The School of Nursing and Health Studies will receive $1 million over three years from a federal grant announced on-campus by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson last week. Dean Bette Keltner said the grant money will be used to fund the Family Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Midwifery Diversity Education Project.
In response to the national shortage of nurses, Thompson said the $27.4 million federal grant will be split among 82 nursing schools nationwide. The School of Nursing and Health Studies will receive $595,470 of the grant this year.
“This administration is going to work to make sure that hospitals, clinics and community health centers have the nurses they need,” Thompson said.
“One of our goals is to increase our enrollment and to get more young people interested in health careers,” said Jean Kelley, assistant professor and coordinator of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program.
Kelly said another goal of the Diversity Education Project is to increase the number of health care providers from ethnic and minority populations as well as the number of culturally competent health care providers. The project seeks to build cultural confidence in nursing students and the new initiative will involve Spanish immersion for faculty and students.
The grant money will also be used to develop and support community partnerships, school linkages and support the “Kids into Health Careers” project. This project, a branch of an existing Summer of Service Program, focuses on getting young people interested in health care careers.
The federal grant money attempts to address a looming health care crisis caused by a national nursing shortage.
According to a Channel 4 news report, by the year 2008 there may be a need for another half-million nurses worldwide to meet demand.
Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies received two of the federal grants. Catholic University received one federal grant.
Georgetown University is one of 82 nursing schools to receive the federal grants.
