§18B-16-6. Nursing Education and Workforce Development Programs.

(a) There is hereby created within the commission an office of nursing education and workforce development for the purpose of addressing the issues of education, recruitment, and retention of nurses in West Virginia. The commission is the state’s designated nursing workforce center.

(b) The duties of the office shall include, but are not limited to:

(1) Promoting and coordinating, through the schools of nursing in the state’s institutions of higher education, opportunities for nurses prepared at the certificate, associate degree, and bachelor degree levels to obtain higher degrees;

(2) Supporting initiatives for expansion of nursing programs;

(3) Administering the nursing scholarship program designed to benefit nurses who practice or teach in state nursing programs as provided in §18C-3-4 of this code;

(4) Gathering, quantifying, and disseminating dependable data on current nursing educational programs and workforce capacities; and

(5) Performing other activities necessary or expedient to accomplish the purposes and implement the provisions of this section and §18C-3-4 of this code.