The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded $7 million in grants to 58 schools of nursing, in an effort to ease the nation's nursing shortage.
The grants were awarded through the RWJF's New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program, which provides financial aid to students who enroll in fast-track nursing degree programs.
Scholarships of $10,000 will be awarded to 706 nursing students in 31 states who are in accelerated programs during the 2008-2009 academic year.
"This scholarship program is designed to ease the shortage of nurses and nurse faculty - an urgent national problem that potentially jeopardizes the health of all Americans," said John Lumpkin, MD, senior vice president and director for the Health Care Group at RWJF. "Fewer students will be turned away by schools of nursing because of the availability of this support for accelerated nursing degree programs."
RWJF's grant program was created to enable schools of nursing to expand entry-level accelerated programs at the baccalaureate and/or Master's level(s). Grant funding is disbursed to schools of nursing; these institutions then award individual scholarships to students.
Scholarship award preference is given to students from groups under-represented in nursing or from disadvantaged backgrounds. Institutions receiving awards will use this funding to help secure new faculty resources and provide mentoring and leadership development resources to ensure successful program completion by scholarship recipients.
"Schools of nursing nationwide are grateful for the exceedingly generous commitment the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has made to help alleviate the U.S. nursing shortage by stimulating growth and innovation in baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs," said American Association of Colleges of Nursing President Fay Raines. "As the National Program Office for this groundbreaking initiative, AACN was pleased to see the high caliber of funding proposals submitted by schools of nursing and delighted that so many students who need financial assistance will receive support as they embark on their nursing careers."
Data from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration show that nurses entering the profession at the baccalaureate level are four times more likely than other nurses to pursue a graduate degree in nursing, which is the required credential to teach.
"By strategically focusing on students in accelerated baccalaureate and Master's programs, RWJF is maximizing its investment by efficiently preparing a new cadre of well-educated nurses while also strengthening the pipeline of potential nurse faculty," added Raines.
In this first cycle of awards, 526 students in accelerated baccalaureate programs and 180 students in accelerated Master's programs will receive scholarship funding.