New 'MORE Nurses Act' Mandates 1-Year Deep Dive into National Nursing Shortage and Policy Failures

The new Magnifying Opportunities to Recruit and Educate Nurses Act, or the MORE Nurses Act, isn't about funding new programs—yet. This bill is about hitting the pause button and figuring out exactly why we can’t seem to staff our hospitals and clinics. Specifically, Section 2 tasks the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice with a comprehensive, year-long investigation into the national nursing shortage, looking at everything from training capacity to policy effectiveness.

The Mandate: What’s Really Behind the Shortage?

This isn't just another committee meeting. The Council has a clear, one-year deadline to figure out the scope and causes of the nursing shortage. They must analyze current trends, pinpoint how many nurses we can actually train each year, and, crucially, examine what federal policies have been doing—or failing to do—to support nursing education and diversify the workforce. Think of it like a federally mandated root-cause analysis for a critical industry.

For the rest of us, this means the government is finally committing to a deep dive into a problem that impacts everyone. If you’ve ever waited too long in an emergency room, or if your local clinic is constantly short-staffed, that’s the real-world impact of this shortage. The Council is required to review existing reports first, which should save time and avoid reinventing the wheel, ensuring they get straight to developing practical solutions.

The Deliverable: A Public Roadmap for Fixes

Within one year of the bill becoming law, the Council must send its findings, conclusions, and specific recommendations for new laws or regulations to the President, Congress, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). This is the part that matters most: they aren't just identifying the problem; they are required to suggest concrete fixes. Furthermore, the bill mandates that this final report be posted online for the public to see (SEC. 2).

This public posting is key for accountability. It means that once the data is collected and the recommendations are made, lawmakers can’t easily ignore them. For busy people juggling work and family, this provides a clear, evidence-based roadmap for what policy changes are needed to stabilize the healthcare workforce—a workforce we all rely on. In short, the MORE Nurses Act starts by gathering the facts, which is the necessary first step before Congress can write the checks or pass the regulations that might actually move the needle on this critical staffing issue.