The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected a demand for 1.1 million new nurses over the next seven years to fill 575,000 new positions and replace 550,000 nurses who will retire by 2022. To meet growing demand for nurses nationwide and in the state of Indiana, Purdue University’s School of Nursing will expand undergraduate enrollment and plans to launch a new PhD in nursing program expected to open in fall 2017.
According to Jane Kirkpatrick, professor and head of the School of Nursing at Purdue, the shortage of nurses in the Midwest is particularly high. As a critical component of the health care system, doubling undergraduate nursing admissions from 100 to 200 students can make a big difference in meeting the state’s workforce needs in the field. In combination with enrollment expansion, the School of Nursing has also renovated its Center for Education and Simulation lab to accommodate the increase in students.
Purdue currently has a 100 percent job placement rate for nursing graduates, with 70 percent of those students being from Indiana. The increase in student enrollment is expected to take place over the next three years and will include the hiring of 30 additional new faculty members to meet state instructor to student ratio guidelines.
The School of Nursing is already accepting applications for the new PhD in nursing program. Designed to develop nurse scientists who can lead transdisciplinary teams to address complex challenges in health care, the new program will help meet the national goal to double the number of nurses who hold doctorates by 2020. Currently only one percent of all nurses hold PhD degrees with demand for nursing scientists, nurse executives, and nursing faculty far exceeding the supply.
Thanks to the help of three grants totaling $85,000, four PhD students at the University of Central Florida (UCF) College of Nursing are receiving full scholarships. A grant of $40,000 was initially awarded to the college from the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare, which was then matched by $25,000 from the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation and $20,000 from GENEX Services, Inc. to fund doctoral students and aid in the nationwide shortage of nurse faculty.
The Jonas Scholars from UCF join more than 1,000 future nurse educators and leaders at 140 universities in all 50 states supported by the Jonas Nurse Leaders Scholars Program and Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program (JVHP). The Jonas Center is the nation’s leading philanthropic funder of graduate nursing education, addressing the critical need for qualified nursing faculty. US nursing schools turn away nearly 70,000 qualified applicants per year from baccalaureate and graduate programs due to an insufficient number of faculty.
Meet the 2016 UCF Jonas Scholars
UCF awarded the scholarships to four students who demonstrate a commitment to the future of nursing and improving health care by addressing critical industry needs through their research.
Jonas Nurse Leader Scholars
Corinne Audette, MSN, CNM – Corinne is a certified nurse midwife committed to increasing the number of nurse midwifery leaders to promote positive change in health care policy and improve health care for women and babies.
Suzanne Hyer, MSN, RN – Suzanne’s lifelong passion for education began in her clinical career, educating patients to improve their health, which blossomed into a desire to teach future nurses.
Jonas Veterans Healthcare Scholars
Jean W. Davis, DNP, EdD, HCRM, ARNP, FNP-BC, PHCNS-BC – Jean is a wife, daughter, and sister of veterans, and a former Veterans Affairs Family Nurse Practitioner trainee. She plans to support veteran’s health care and quality of life by studying healthy aging and lifelong health promotion.
Kelli M. Lipscomb, MSN, RN – Kelli is a critical care nurse and current adjunct nursing instructor who grew up with servicemen in her family and witnessed the difficulties of adjusting to life after returning from deployment. She wants to be part of the solution to aid veteran transition to non-active duty, and believes now is the time to create solutions with the new VA hospital opening in Orlando.
The scholarship funds, which begin in fall 2016, will cover three years of tuition, books, and stipend expenses that allow the doctoral students to focus on their studies and research. Scholarship recipients are enrolled full time in the online PhD program and expected to graduate in summer 2018.
