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The California State
University, Fresno Department of Nursing has been awarded $150,000 from
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s New Careers in Nursing scholarship
program as part of a nationwide effort to deal with the shortage of
nurses.
The grants will provide $10,000 scholarships to 15 Fresno State students
to help increase the number of people enrolled in the university’s
accelerated baccalaureate nursing program.
It’s the second consecutive year Fresno State has been a beneficiary of
the foundation’s generosity, receiving $100,000 in 2008-09. Fifty-two
colleges in 29 states were awarded scholarship funds for the 2009-10
academic year.
“These scholarship funds recognize the additional challenges for the
accelerated second-degree nursing students in our program,” said Dr.
Michael Russler, a professor of nursing who chairs the Department of
Nursing within Fresno State’s College of Health and Human Services.
The scholarships are especially welcome during the California budget
crunch, Russler added, because “they will have a significant impact in
light of the recent increase in graduate student fees.”
This initiative, launched by the foundation and the American Association
of Colleges of Nursing, aims to alleviate the national nursing shortage
by dramatically expanding the pipeline of students in accelerated
nursing programs. Another goal is attracting greater cultural and
economic diversity to nursing careers by giving preference to students
from groups underrepresented in nursing or from disadvantaged
backgrounds.
“New Careers in Nursing aims to safeguard the health of the nation by
helping to ease the nurse and nurse faculty shortage. Nurses are
critical to delivering health care that is effective, patient-centered,
timely, efficient and equitable,” said Dr. Susan B. Hassmiller, the
foundation’s senior adviser for nursing.
Accelerated programs are intended for individuals who already have
completed a baccalaureate or graduate degree in a non-nursing
discipline. Many prospective students are unable to apply for the
accelerated programs because their degree disqualifies them from most
federal financial aid programs for entry-level students.
An additional benefit to the scholarship program, says the foundation,
is development of more nursing faculty. Fresno State is trying to
address that issue by seeking legislative permission to establish a
doctoral program in nursing to prepare nurses to be educators.
For more information, contact Russler at
michaelr@csufresno.edu or
559.278.2429.
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