The Most Trusted Profession No Longer Considered a Profession by the Republican Administration

Three in four Americans consider nurses highly honest and ethical, making them the most trusted of 23 professions rated in Gallup’s annual measurement. Nursing has been the most trusted profession for 23 years straight, going back to 2002.

Nurses are the backbone of healthcare in the U.S., yet the Department of Education wants to use 1960-era definitions of professional and graduate degrees to determine loan limits, leading to the further erosion of the nursing workforce (the average age of nurses is 46). 

This move supposedly stems from an effort to rein in student loan debt and tuition costs as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, it means that graduate nursing and other professional students would be eligible for half the amount of federal loans. 

Of the seven professions targeted by this definition change, six are female predominate professions (nurses, teachers, social workers, physician assistants, physical therapists and accountants & auditors). 

Nursing is already experiencing a workforce shortage to meet the current and expected healthcare needs in America. We do not need more hurdles in place to prevent people from pursuing a career in nursing or the other targeted professions.  I hope that you will join me in calling on the Department of Education and your legislators to revise the proposed definition of professional degrees to explicitly include nursing and the other female dominated professions.  Go to https://5calls.org/issue/protect-department-of-education/ for a prepared script to call your legislator or go to https://www.nursingworld.org/  to sign a petition supporting nursing as a profession.

Submitted by Colleen O’Brien Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Registered Nurse (RN)