The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is committed to improving safety and quality of care in the nation’s nursing homes. Nursing home staffing is a critical factor for improving care for nursing home residents.  

However, nursing homes sometimes struggle to hire enough nursing staff to meet residents’ needs. Additionally, state survey agencies, who are responsible for inspecting nursing homes for compliance with federal regulations, also struggle to hire nurses to conduct these inspections. The Nursing Home Staffing Campaign (NHSC) is aimed at increasing the availability of nurses to work in the nursing home environment, such as in qualifying nursing homes or in an oversight capacity for a state inspection agency. 

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is focused on helping to recruit RNs to work in nursing homes by offering financial incentives. Through this NOFO, CMS is accepting applications for cooperative agreements to entities to who will administer financial incentives, such as tuition reimbursement and stipends, to RNs to work for three years in a qualifying nursing home or in an oversight role with a state agency.