In a bid to address the nation's nursing shortage, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded the first round of $28 million in grants to 15 junior faculty nurses around the country.
The RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholars program will provide up to $350,000 to each of the 15 nursing faculty over three years to further their careers as "future leaders" in nursing education.
"If we want to address the serious shortage of nurses in this country, we must focus on recruiting more nurse educators to the classroom and retaining them in the academic setting," said RWJF president Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, "This program fits squarely into the Foundation's goal to build a new generation of nurse leaders among academic faculty so we can stop turning away nursing school applicants who are sorely needed to meet an increasing patient demand."
Despite a rise in nursing applicants in recent years, schools have turned away thousands of prospective students due to lack of faculty, training sites, and funding. The Nurse Faculty Scholars program, part of the Foundation's Human Capital Portfolio, aims to strengthen ties between institutional reputation and faculty success by funding research and career development opportunities for junior faculty.
"This program is not just a major boost to the careers of these junior nursing scholars, it is an enhancement to nursing science, the healthcare system and our nation as a whole," said Jacquelyn Campbell, the program's director and professor in the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, which will administer the program.
The scholars "will serve as important role models for students and practicing nurses to generate interest in and increase the numbers of nurses who want to pursue a career as nursing faculty," said Campbell.
In addition to serving as nurse education ambassadors, Campbell hopes the scholars will advance nursing science through health policy changes and the development of evidence-based practices for nurses in the field.
The scholars will conduct research projects while teaching at their respective universities. The first leadership training activities will be provided by Outward Bound Professional in Colorado.
Over 70 candidates applied for the grant. Applicants were required to be junior faculty members with at least two but no more than five years of experience in a faculty role.
The list of 2008 RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholars and their research projects:
- Angela Amar, Boston College, An Ecological Approach to Help Seeking Behavior;
- Cindy Anderson, University of North Dakota, Vitamin D Status during Preeclampsia: Mechanisms Underlying Placental Vascular Alterations;
- Robert Atkins, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Adolescents as Healthy Agents and Consumers; the Knowledge, Behavior, Attitudes, and Experiences of Youth living in High-Poverty Urban Neighborhoods;
- Nancy Hanrahan, University of Pennsylvania, Organizational Quality of Patient Care Environments, Nurse Staffing, and Nurse Outcomes in Psychiatric Hospital Settings;
- Kathryn Laughon, University of Virginia, A Test of an Innovative Computerized Safety Planning Aid for Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence;
- Jennifer Runquist, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Relationship of Postpartum Sleep Deprivation to Later Mental Health in Lower Income Urban Women;
- Teresa Sakraida, University of Colorado Denver, Self Management of Type II Diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease;
- AkkeNeel Talsma, Regents of the University of Michigan, Evaluation of the Relationship Between Microsystems Aimed at Understanding Nursing Care Processes and Patient Safety;
- Jacquelyn Taylor, Yale University, Early Gene-Environment Risks for High Blood Pressure Among African American Children;
- Diane Von Ah, Indiana University, Memory Training Intervention for Breast Cancer Survivors;
- Kynna Wright - Volel, Regents of the University of California, Reducing Health Disparities Among Overweight Latino Youth Using a Community Based Participatory Research Model;
- Ying Xue, University of Rochester, Studies of Supplemental Nurse Staffing;
- Devon Berry, University of Cincinnati, Religiosity, Risk, and Emerging Adulthood;
- Joachim Voss, University of Washington, Biomarker Development for Fatigue in HIV;
- Jennifer Wenzel, Johns Hopkins University, Building Support for Older Rural African Americans with Cancer.
The 2009 request for proposals will be released in late fall 2008. Proposals will be due early in 2009. Potential applicants should visit www.rwjfnursefacultyscholars.org for more information about the program.