Rural Nursing Promotion Act - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Nurse Distance Education Pilot Program through which grants may be awarded for activities to increase accessibility to nursing education in order to: (1) provide assistance to individuals in rural areas who want to study nursing to enable such individuals to receive appropriate nursing education; (2) promote the study of nursing at all educational levels; (3) establish additional slots for nursing students at existing nursing education programs; and (4) establish new nursing education programs at institutions of higher education.
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) report to Congress on the source of newly licensed nurses and physical therapists in each state; (2) contract with the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine to determine the necessary level of federal investment under the Public Health Service Act to eliminate the domestic nursing and physical therapist shortage; and (3) collaborate with other agencies in working with the five countries from which the most nurses and physical therapists arrived to address health worker shortages caused by emigration.
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exempt aliens seeking U.S. entry to perform labor in shortage occupations from worldwide and per-country numerical limitations through September 30, 2017. Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to provide for a process to review and make a determination upon a petition filed for immigrant status for such an alien within 30 days.