The University of South Carolina College of Nursing has been awarded a new grant of $30,000 from the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare. Matched by $30,000 of its own monies, it will fund the scholarship of three doctoral nursing students in 2016. As a recipient of the Jonas Center grant, USC College of Nursing is part of a national effort to stem the faculty shortage and prepare the next generation of nurses – critical as a clinical nurse shortage is anticipated just as an aging population requires care.
The USC Jonas Scholars join more than 1,000 future nurse educators and leaders at 140 universities across all 50 states supported by Jonas Center programs, the Jonas Nurse Leaders Scholars Program and Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program (JVHP). These scholarships support nurses pursuing PhDs and DNPs, the terminal degrees in the field.
“We are delighted to have received our third round of funding from the Jonas Foundation, which allows us to prepare a greater number of highly qualified nurse leaders, practitioners and researchers in our state,” said Jeannette Andrews, dean of the USC College of Nursing.
As the nation’s leading philanthropic funder of graduate nursing education, the Jonas Center is addressing the critical need for qualified nursing faculty. U.S. nursing schools turned away nearly 70,000 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2014 due in large part to an insufficient number of facultyi. Further, nearly two-thirds of registered nurses over age 54 say they are considering retirementii.
“In 2008, we set an ambitious goal to support 1,000 Jonas Nurse Scholars. This year,
on our Center’s 10th anniversary, we celebrate this achievement and amazed by the
talent of this cohort of future nurse leaders,” said Donald Jonas, who co-founded
the Center with Barbara Jonas, his wife. “In the decade to come, we look forward to
continuing to work with our partner nursing schools and to the great impact that the
Jonas Scholars will have on improving healthcare around the world.”
The USC Jonas Scholars will begin their graduate careers in the fall and will be supported
through 2018 as they focus on such critical health priorities as mental health, acute
care, and primary care.
“These new scholars will join our previous USC Jonas Scholars and graduate students in our number one ranked graduate program as we continue to shape healthcare and healthcare delivery in South Carolina and beyond,” said Andrews.
iAmerican Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2014-2015 Enrollment and Graduations
in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing
iiAMN Healthcare, 2015 Survey of Registered Nurses: Viewpoints on Retirement, Education
and Emerging Roles