MEDIA CONTACT: Kelly Jasper Media Relations Coordinator Georgia Regents University Office Mobile

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1 MEDIA CONTACT: Kelly Jasper Media Relations Coordinator Georgia Regents University Office Mobile Sept. 9, 2014 GRU receives $120,000 grant for nursing scholarships through Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholarships support second career nurses from groups underrepresented in the profession AUGUSTA, Ga. For the seventh consecutive year, the Georgia Regents University College of Nursing has been selected as a grant recipient of the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program. During the academic year, the College will receive $120,000 to support students who are traditionally underrepresented in the field of nursing and are pursuing second careers in the field. GRU is just one of five schools in the nation and the only school in Georgia to be funded for all seven cycles of NCIN, a program of RWJF and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. New Careers in Nursing has made amazing strides in helping schools of nursing recruit and retain diverse students in these competitive and rigorous accelerated degree programs, said Dr. David Krol, RWJF Senior Program Officer. Through supporting these institutions, NCIN is working to increase the diversity of our nursing workforce, while also assisting schools of nursing in making their institutions more

Ga. For the seventh consecutive year, the Georgia Regents University College of Nursing has been selected as a grant recipient of the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Careers in Nursing

2 inclusive. The leadership, mentoring, and other support these institutions provide are helping to prepare a diverse nursing workforce able to meet the challenges associated with building a culture of health in our nation. Through the grant, 12 students in the GRU Clinical Nurse Leader program will be awarded $10,000 scholarships. Each scholar has already earned a bachelor s degree in another field and is making a transition to nursing through an accelerated master s degree curriculum, which prepares students to be registered nurses in as little as months. The scholarship recipients are: 1. Noha Bakr, Evans, Ga. 2. Homernesa Brown, Augusta, Ga. 3. Rita Dorcely, Buford, Ga. 4. Boyd Guttery, Alpharetta, Ga. 5. Darrione A. Lumar, McDonough, Ga. 6. Khang Nguyen, Lawrenceville, Ga. 7. Myiesha Patrice Sellers, Baxley, Ga. 8. Thomas Skinner, Augusta, Ga. 9. Allison Stratton, North Augusta, S.C. 10. Stan Underwood, Athens, Ga. 11. Taneisha Warren- Parkinson, Lawrenceville, Ga. 12. Charmaine Woody, Augusta, Ga. We are sincerely grateful to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for the opportunity to provide these scholarships to students in our Clinical Nurse Leader program, said College of Nursing Dean Lucy Marion. This award allows us to fulfill a crucial aspect of the program s goals of developing a diverse, well- educated nursing workforce that will provide quality, individualized patient care. In addition to the scholarship, NCIN scholars receive other support to help them meet the demands of an accelerated degree program. All NCIN grantee schools maintain a leadership program and a mentoring

our nation. Through the grant, 12 students in the GRU Clinical Nurse Leader program will be awarded $10,000 scholarships.

3 program for their scholars, as well as a pre- entry immersion program to assist scholars in learning essential study, test- taking, and other skills needed to succeed in their program of study. Nursing and nursing education are at a critical juncture right now, and NCIN s exemplary approach to supporting nursing schools is helping to strengthen both, said AACN President Eileen Breslin, PhD, RN, FAAN. NCIN s creative, innovative and responsive approach to providing grantees with tools to ensure academic success will result in lasting changes at nursing schools nationwide. The NCIN program has truly raised the bar for recruitment, retention, mentoring, and leadership development for nursing students from groups underrepresented in nursing. The 2010 Institute of Medicine report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, recommends increasing the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree or higher, and increasing the diversity of students to create a nursing workforce prepared to meet the healthcare demands of diverse populations across the lifespan. NCIN is helping to advance those recommendations by enabling schools to expand student capacity and by encouraging more diversity. By bringing more nurses into the profession at the baccalaureate and master s degree levels, the NCIN program also helps to address the nation s nurse faculty shortage. This trend is reflected in the NCIN scholars, as 91 percent of the students receiving funding in the first three years of the program indicated a desire to advance their education to the master s and doctoral levels. Since 2008, the NCIN program has distributed 3,517 scholarships to students at 130 schools of nursing. The program has supported 65 GRU students so far. For more information about the GRU College of Nursing s accelerated program, visit gru.edu/nursing/cnl.php. To learn more about the NCIN program, visit NewCareersInNursing.org.

RN, FAAN. NCIN s creative, innovative and responsive approach to providing grantees with tools to ensure academic success will result in lasting changes at nursing schools nationwide.

4 ### About NCIN The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) joined with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) to create New Careers in Nursing (NCIN): 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 nursing program. For more information, visit About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation For more than 40 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve the health and health care of all Americans. We are striving to build a national culture of health that will enable all Americans to live longer, healthier lives now and for generations to come. For more information, visit Follow the Foundation on Twitter at or on Facebook at About AACN The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is the national voice for baccalaureate and graduate programs in nursing. Representing more than 750 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

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

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Careers in Nursing

40 YEARS OF IMPROVING HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Careers in Nursing 2013 Call for Applications Round 6 Application Deadline January 9, 2013 Program Overview (For complete