The Department of Veterans Affairs is establishing new partnerships with five of the country’s top nursing schools in order to boost nursing education in the United States.
With these new partnerships, the VA Nursing Academy will expand the number of collaborations with nursing schools from 10 to 15.
"The expanded role of the Department of Veterans Affairs in the education of nurses will ensure the department has the nurses needed to continue our world-class healthcare for Veterans,” said Linda D. Johnson, director of VA Nursing Academy. “The VA Nursing Academy expands the teaching faculty, improves recruitment and retention, and creates new educational and research opportunities.”
The VA Nursing Academy is a virtual five-year pilot program with central administration in Washington. It expands learning opportunities for nursing students at VA facilities, and funds faculty development of VA staff for additional faculty positions to competitively selected school partners. The five-year, $59 million program began in 2007.
Five nursing schools will join the VA Nursing Academy this year:
- Western Carolina University, Asheville, N.C.
- University of Alabama, Birmingham, Ala.
- University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu
- Pace University, Manhattan and Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Waynesburg University, Pittsburgh.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing has reported that in 2007 more than 36,000 qualified applicants were turned away from entry-level baccalaureate degree programs in nursing schools because of insufficient numbers of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space and clinical mentors. VA currently provides clinical education for approximately 100,000 health professional trainees annually, including students from more than 600 schools of nursing.
VA Nursing Academy enables competitively selected VA-nursing school partnerships to expand the number of nursing faculty, enhance the professional and scholarly development of nurses, increase student enrollment by about 1,000 students and promote innovations in nursing education.