2015-02314. Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: Public Comment Request

AGENCY:

Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects (Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announces plans to submit an Information Collection Request (ICR), described below, to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Prior to submitting the ICR to OMB, HRSA seeks comments from the public regarding the burden estimate, below, or any other aspect of the ICR.

DATES:

Comments on this Information Collection Request must be received no later than April 7, 2015.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments to [e-mail] or mail the HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer, Room 10C-03, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request more information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and draft instruments, email [e-mail] or call the HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

When submitting comments or requesting information, please include the information request collection title for reference.

Information Collection Request Title: Nurse Corps Scholarship Program, OMB No. 0915-0301—Revision.

Abstract: The Nurse Corps Scholarship Program (Nurse Corps SP) is a competitive Federal program, which awards scholarships to individuals for attendance at accredited schools of nursing. The Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW) in HRSA administers the program. The scholarship consists of payment of tuition, fees, other reasonable educational costs, and a monthly support stipend. In return, the students agree to provide a minimum of 2 years of full-time clinical service (or an equivalent part-time commitment, as approved by the Nurse Corps SP) at a health care facility with a critical shortage of nurses as defined by the program. Nurse Corps SP recipients must be willing to (and are required to) fulfill their Nurse Corps SP service commitment at a health care facility with a critical shortage of nurses in the United States, which includes, in addition to the several states, only: The District of Columbia, Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

Students who are uncertain of their commitment to provide nursing care in a health care facility with a critical shortage of nurses in the United States or these territories are advised not to participate in the program.

Need and Proposed Use of the Information: The Nurse Corps Scholarship Program needs to collect data to determine an applicant's eligibility for the program, to monitor a participant's continued enrollment in a school of nursing, to monitor the participant's compliance with the Nurse Corps Scholarship Program service obligation, and to obtain data on its program to ensure compliance with statutory mandates and prepare annual reports to Congress. The following information will be collected: (1) From the applicants and/or the schools—general applicant and nursing school data such as full name, location, tuition/fees, and enrollment status; (2) from the schools, on an annual basis—data concerning tuition/fees and student enrollment status; and (3) from the participants and their health care facilities with a critical shortage of nurses, on a biannual basis—data concerning the participant's employment status, work schedule and leave usage. BHW enters the cost information into its data system, along with the projected amount for the monthly stipend, to determine the amount of each scholarship award.

Likely Respondents: Nurse Corps Scholarship Program scholars in school and graduates.

Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide the information requested. This includes the time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of information; to search data sources; to complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information. The total annual burden hours estimated for this Information Collection Request are summarized in the table below.

Total Estimated Annualized burden hours:

Form name	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Total responses	Average burden per response (in hours)	Total burden hours
Eligible Applications	2,600	1	2,600	2	5,200
In-School Monitoring	500	2	1,000	2	2,000
In-Service Monitoring	500	2	1,000	1	1,000
Total	3,600		4,600		8,200

HRSA specifically requests comments on (1) the necessity and utility of the proposed information collection for the proper performance of the agency's functions, (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden, (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected, and (4) the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden.

Jackie Painter,

Director, Division of the Executive Secretariat.