OLATHE, KAN, -- For the fifth year in a row MidAmerica Nazarene University School of Nursing and Health Science has been selected as a grant recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program (NCIN). MNU received $100,000 to support scholarships for students in the accelerated Bachelor of Science in nursing program who are considered underrepresented in the field of nursing.
The NCIN Scholarship Program was launched in 2008 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing to address the national nursing shortage, develop a diverse professional nursing workforce, and fuel the pipeline of nurse faculty and leaders.
A committee will determine how MNU will disperse the scholarships in the 2013-2014 academic year. MNU has awarded scholarships to 35 students in the past four years through NCIN funding to develop culturally competent health professionals and future leaders of the profession.
According to Dr. Deborah Highfill, associate dean of Prelicensure Nursing Education and NCIN coordinator, the grant has had a positive impact on MNU’s programming in addition to the financial support provided to individual students.
“With the support and tools provided by RWJF, we have developed a two-day pre-immersion program that orients students in order to help them prepare for the many different aspects of their intense year of study, as well as assist them with best-practice study habits,” Highfill said.
The MNU School of Nursing and Health Science joins 52 other schools of nursing, including Duke, Yale and Marquette, receiving this year’s funding. Additionally, the university’s ABSN program is one of only six to have received five consecutive rounds of funding for the NCIN Scholarship Program.
About NCIN
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) joined with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) to create New Careers in Nursing: an RWJF Scholarship Program to help alleviate the nursing shortage and increase the diversity of nursing professionals. Through annual grants to schools of nursing, NCIN provides $10,000 scholarships to college graduates with degrees in other fields who wish to transition into nursing through an accelerated baccalaureate or master’s program. For more information, visit www.newcareersinnursing.org.
About RWJF
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, measurable, and timely change. For more than 40 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.
About AACN
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing is the national voice for baccalaureate and graduate programs in nursing. Representing more than 720 member schools of nursing at public and private institutions nationwide, AACN’s educational, research, governmental advocacy, data collection, publications and other programs work to establish quality standards for bachelor’s and graduate degree nursing education, assist deans and directors to implement those standards, influence the nursing profession to improve health care, and promote public support of baccalaureate and graduate nursing education, research, and practice. For more information, visit www.aacn.nche.edu.
About MNU
MidAmerica Nazarene University is a comprehensive, private, Christian, liberal arts university of nearly 2,000 students in Olathe, Kansas. The School of Nursing and Health Science offers an accelerated Master of Science in Nursing and the Bachelor of Science in Nursing in the following formats: an RN to BSN, an Accelerated BSN and a traditional BSN program. MNU’s main campus is located on 105 acres in Olathe, Kan. Select nursing programs are also offered online. Additional on-site locations include Liberty, Mo., and North Kansas City Hospital. More information on nursing education at MNU may be found at www.mnu.edu/nursing.
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