The Duke University School of Nursing is pleased to be among the first institutions in the nation to receive funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) through the RWJF New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program. Grants provided through this competitive program will be used for scholarships to increase the number of students enrolled in Duke's accelerated Bachelor of Science in nursing program. This groundbreaking national initiative, launched by RWJF and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), aims to help alleviate the nation’s nursing shortage by dramatically expanding the pipeline of students in accelerated nursing programs. The Duke School of Nursing has received a $70,000 grant and will award scholarships to seven students who will matriculate in Fall 2009.

Through the RWJF New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program, scholarships in the amount of $10,000 each will be distributed to entry-level nursing students in accelerated programs during the 2008-2009 academic year. Award preference is given to students from groups underrepresented in nursing or from disadvantaged backgrounds. Grant funding also will be used by the school of nursing to help leverage new faculty resources and provide mentoring and leadership development resources to ensure successful program completion by scholarship recipients. “This program aims to safeguard the health of the nation by helping to ease the nurse and nurse faculty shortage,” said RWJF President Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A. “This new initiative also will advance our strategic goal of promoting leadership in the health professions.”

The RWJF New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program supports accelerated programs, which offer the most efficient route to licensure as a registered nurse for adults who have already completed a baccalaureate or graduate degree in a discipline other than nursing. Although enrollment in these programs has steadily increased over the past few years, many potential students are unable to enroll since already having a college degree disqualifies them for receiving most federal financial aid programs for entry-level students. The New Careers in Nursing scholarships address this problem, and will also address the overall nursing shortage, by enabling hundreds of students to launch their nursing careers through accelerated education.

The Duke School of Nursing offers an Accelerated BSN curriculum as a second degree program for adult learners who have completed an undergraduate degree. The full-time campus-based 16-month curriculum is inclusive of up to 15 graduate credits, which may later be applied to a graduate nursing degree. This program incorporates all of the components of a traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing program with an additional focus on 21st century healthcare needs and environment. This program also offers students the advantage of clinical experiences in multiple sites in the prestigious Duke University Health System. The graduate of Duke’s ABSN program is well-prepared to successfully complete the national exam to become a registered Nurse.

By bringing more nurses into the profession at the baccalaureate and master’s degree levels, the new scholarship program also helps to address the nation’s nurse faculty shortage. Data from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration show that nurses entering the profession at the baccalaureate level are four times more likely than other nurses to pursue a graduate degree in nursing, which is the required credential to teach.

Additionally, the program targets the need to recruit students from groups underrepresented in nursing or disadvantaged backgrounds. According to the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice, diversifying the nursing profession is essential to meeting the health care needs of the nation and reducing health disparities that exist among many underserved populations.

In an effort to increase scholarship opportunities for groups underrepresented in nursing, the Duke School of Nursing launched the Broadening the Community scholarship program for academic year 2008-2009. There were more applicants for that scholarship than funds available. The application process was inclusive of a written essay depicting how the applicant could make a difference in nursing. Duke's first seven RWJ New Careers in Nursing scholars were selected from that pool of applicants and reflect diversity in gender and ethnicity.

AACN serves as the National Program Office for this RWJF initiative and oversees the grant application submission and review processes. For more information about this program, see http://www.newcareersinnursing.org.