$2.2 million addresses nursing shortage

he School of Nursing has received a $2.2 million grant, the single largest of its type received by the school in the last 20 years, to support efforts to attract professionals to the field. The funding from the Helene Fuld Health Trust comes at a critical time for the nursing profession, with shortages expected to intensify over the next decade as baby boomers age and large numbers of nurses retire.

"This funding will have a tremendous impact on our ability to infuse the region's hospitals with newly trained, highly skilled nurses and retain the nurses already working in the profession," says Patricia Chiverton, dean of the School of Nursing. "It will help us foster fundamental changes in the way nurses are educated, the way nursing care is delivered, and the way the profession is perceived and valued."

The grant will be used to expand the school's new accelerated degree programs, which enable non-nurses to enter the field in less time than traditional nursing programs. In May, the school welcomed its first students into the new programs.

"Our accelerated programs have been incredibly popular with prospective students," Chiverton says. "We expected to start the bachelor's program with eight students, and we actually have 24. Now, using the Fuld funding, we can offer more scholarships, hire more faculty and support staff, and purchase equipment needed to expand. We also can aggressively market the programs to qualified minority candidates. Within four years, we expect to significantly increase enrollment in each of these programs."

The Fuld Trust is the nation's largest private funder devoted exclusively to nursing students and nursing education. HSBC Bank USA is currently responsible for overseeing and administering the trust.

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