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UMSON Receives RWJF New Careers in Nursing Scholarships for Fifth Consecutive Year
June 22, 2012
Funds will aid second career nurses from groups underrepresented in nursing or from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Baltimore, Md. – The University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) has been selected – for the fifth consecutive time – as a grant recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) New Careers in Nursing (NCIN) Scholarship Program. Five $10,000 scholarships will be awarded for the 2012-2013 academic year to newly admitted students in UMSON’s Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) master’s degree option. Award preference is given to students from groups underrepresented in nursing or from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The CNL master’s option, designed for students who have already earned a baccalaureate degree in a field other than nursing, prepares them as advanced generalists in the provision of direct patient care and clinical leadership. Graduates are eligible to sit for the NCLEX examination for licensure as a Registered Nurse.
“We are pleased that we have once again received these scholarship funds, which will help minimize some of the financial burden for our students,” says Gail Schoen Lemaire, PhD, PMH/CNS, BC, associate professor and director of the CNL master’s option. “Our previous scholars have stated how grateful they were for their awards, which they used for tuition, books, living expenses, and child care.”
The NCIN Scholarship Program, launched in 2008 by RWJF and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, aims to expand enrollment in accelerated degree programs in schools of nursing while increasing diversity in the nursing workforce. Grants provided through this competitive program will build upon UMSON’s previous efforts to increase the number of students enrolled in its CNL master’s option and to diversify its student base.
“The NCIN scholarship provided huge financial help toward my tuition,” says scholarship recipient Michael Okojie, MSHA, MS, RN(c), CNL(c), a 2012 graduate of UMSON’s CNL master’s option. “As a CNL student, I was able to take advantage of sessions on how to succeed in nursing school, which were very helpful.”
UMSON is one of 55 schools of nursing receiving funding for the upcoming academic year. This latest award brings the total to 43 CNL students who have received scholarships through RWJF’s NCIN program. Past scholars experienced a variety of clinical settings and gained beginning knowledge of evidence-based practice, health care quality, and patient outcomes.
For more information about the RWJF New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program, visithttp://www.newcareersinnursing.org. To learn more about UMSON’s CNL program, visithttp://nursing.umaryland.edu.
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The University of Maryland School of Nursing, founded in 1889, is one of the oldest and largest nursing schools, and is ranked eleventh nationally. Enrolling more than 1,600 students in its baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs, the School develops leaders who shape the profession of nursing and impact the health care environment