SBU SCHOOL OF NURSING AWARDED FROM ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION TO EXPAND ACCELERATED DEGREE PROGRAM
Eight Incoming Students in 2009 Will Receive a Total of $80,000 in Scholarship Funding
STONY BROOK, N.Y
., September 2, 2008 – The Stony Brook University School of Nursing received an $80,000 grant from the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s “New Careers in Nursing” scholarship program to provide eight scholarships for students in the Accelerated Bachelor of Science Degree Program. The grant, under the direction of Lori Escallier, Ph.D., R.N., C.P.N.P., enables the School to expand enrollment in the one-year degree program to promote cultural competence and diversity, as well as respond to the continued need for more nurses within the healthcare arena.
The Accelerated Bachelor of Science Degree Program was created in the 1990s to prepare students who already have undergraduate degrees in other fields for the nursing profession. The program was developed in response to a growing national nursing shortage with the idea to pipeline well-educated individuals into the healthcare environment. Students carry degrees and experience in other fields, such as business, finance, accounting, and various sciences. A total of 64 are currently enrolled.
“This grant will help the School to recruit the most promising professionals and nursing students from underrepresented groups in nursing, which will further promote our mission to provide affordable nursing education at a high level of training,” says Dr. Escallier, Director of Grant Development and Management, School of Nursing.
Dr. Escallier says students who meet all necessary requirements for admission to the School of Nursing, particularly those who are considered disadvantaged or from underrepresented minority groups, will be considered for the scholarships. The eight scholarships will be awarded to students who enter the program in June 2009.
The grant is the first award the School has received from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s New Careers in Nursing program. The foundation focuses on pressing healthcare issues in the United States and works with diverse groups to address problems and find solutions to achieve comprehensive and timely change in healthcare.
The Stony Brook University School of Nursing holds the highest accreditation in Nursing through The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. Students are taught primarily within the School of Nursing and SBU’s Health Sciences Center. They have the opportunity to gain clinical proficiency at Stony Brook University Hospital, Long Island’s only academic medical center and the region’s only tertiary care center and Level I Trauma Center.
