Kent State’s College of Nursing is pleased to be among the first institutions in the United States to receive a $100,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through its New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program. The grant will assist with increasing the number of students enrolled in Kent State’s Accelerated Baccalaureate Nursing Program.

This groundbreaking national initiative, launched by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, aims to alleviate the nation’s nursing shortage by dramatically expanding the pipeline of students in Accelerated Nursing Programs.

Through the program, scholarships in the amount of $10,000 each will be distributed to 10 entry-level nursing students in the Accelerated BSN Program during the 2008-2009 academic year. Award preference is given to students from groups underrepresented in nursing or from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The fall 2008 scholarship recipients, Martin Duru and Victoria Dorsey, students beginning their first semester in Kent State’s Accelerated BSN Program, were the first individuals selected to receive grant funding. An additional eight scholarship recipients will receive awards in January and May 2009.

Kent State’s Accelerated BSN Program is intense, making it difficult for enrolled students to work full time outside of their studies, says Tracey Carlson, director of Kent State’s Accelerated BSN Program. "Many of the accelerated students need to work in order to support themselves or their families," Carlson says. "This student funding alleviates some of the financial worries to allow them to focus on becoming a competent nurse."

Carlson says funding is awarded to students based on grant criteria, which include that the individual is from a disadvantaged or underrepresented racial or ethnic minority; is a citizen or permanent resident of the U.S.; is admitted to the Accelerated BSN Program; and is committed to pursuing professional licensure through the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses.

Grant funding also will be used by the College of Nursing to leverage new faculty resources and provide mentoring and leadership development tools to ensure successful program completion by scholarship recipients.

"This program aims to safeguard the health of the nation by helping to ease the nurse and nurse faculty shortage," says Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A. "This new initiative also will advance our strategic goal of promoting leadership in the health professions."

The New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program supports accelerated programs, which offer the most efficient route to licensure as a registered nurse for adults who have already completed a baccalaureate or graduate degree in a discipline other than nursing.

Although enrollment in these programs has steadily increased over the past few years, many potential students are unable to enroll since already having a college degree disqualifies them for receiving most federal financial aid programs for entry-level students. The New Careers in Nursing scholarships address this problem and also will address the overall nursing shortage by enabling hundreds of students to launch their nursing careers through accelerated education.

Kent State’s College of Nursing offers an accelerated nursing program for these second-degree students – students who previously earned baccalaureate or advanced degrees in other disciplines and are interested in entering the nursing profession. The 15-month program includes classroom lecture, hybrid Web courses, simulation lab and hands-on clinical experience in rural and metropolitan areas.

By bringing more nurses into the profession at the baccalaureate and master’s degree levels, the new scholarship program addresses the nation’s nurse faculty shortage. Data from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration show that nurses entering the profession at the baccalaureate level are four times likely than other nurses to pursue a graduate degree in nursing, which is the required credential to teach.

Additionally, the program targets the need to recruit students from groups underrepresented in nursing or disadvantaged backgrounds. According to the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice, diversifying the nursing profession is essential to meeting the health care needs of the nation and reducing health disparities that exist among many underserved populations.

The Association of American Colleges of Nursing serves as the national program office for this Robert Wood Johnson Foundation initiative. For more information about this program, see http://www.newcareersinnursing.org

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Media contact:

Tracey Carlson, 330-672-8784 or tcarlson@kent.edu

Rachel Wenger-Pelosi, 330-672-8046 or rwenger@kent.edu