Press Release
Date: 06-19-09Name: Lynn McFarlane Phone: 973-972-8539
Email: mcfarlld@umdnj.edu
UMDNJ-School of Nursing Receives $2.3 Million Grant from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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NEWARK--The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has awarded a $2.3 million grant to the Foundation of UMDNJ for the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Nursing to help avert a severe nursing shortage in the state.
The grant is part of RWJF’s $22 million, five-year “New Jersey Nursing Initiative,” which will increase the number of nurse faculty available to educate the next generation of nurses in the state. Through the program, scholars will study to become faculty and commit to teach in the state for three years after they complete their studies.
“Last year, nursing schools across the nation turned away close to 50,000 qualified applicants because they lacked the faculty, space, clinical sites and other resources needed to expand their education programs,” said Susan Salmond, EdD, RN, dean at UMDNJ-School of Nursing and co-director for the grant program. “In spite of the current slow-down in hiring in some locations, the national nursing shortage is expected to continue and could grow even worse as demand for healthcare rises,” she noted.
Mary Kamienski, PhD, RN, assistant dean for graduate studies and co-director for the grant program, explained that students in the RWJF Scholars program will pursue MSN degrees in nurse practitioner specialties or other clinically focused areas. In addition to their clinical coursework, the students will study teaching methods, curriculum development and other education-related topics.
“Students will each be matched with a faculty mentor who will provide support and encouragement for the nurse educator of the future,” said Kamienski. Students will also participate in programs of the Institute for Nurse Educator Development, a partnership between the UMDNJ-School of Nursing and Rutgers University College of Nursing.
Since 1974, when the Foundation of UMDNJ was established, RWJF has been an important supporter of a wide range of programs throughout the University.
“We commend the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for tackling critical issues through the New Jersey Nursing Initiative and are proud that the UMDNJ-School of Nursing was selected as a worthy participant in this important program,” said George F. Heinrich, MD, vice chair and CEO of the Foundation of UMDNJ.
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending a school of nursing, the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, and its only school of public health, on five campuses. Last year, there were more than two million patient visits to UMDNJ facilities and faculty at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a mental health and addiction services network
