Multi-funder initiative aims to help reach Institute of Medicine goal to double the number of nurses with doctorates.
Philadelphia – The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today announced the 25 schools of nursing selected to receive grants to support 48 nurses as they pursue their PhDs. These 25 schools comprise the second cohort of grantees of the Future of Nursing Scholars program. Each school will select one or two students to receive financial support, mentoring, and leadership development over the three years of their PhD programs.
The Future of Nursing Scholars program is a multi-funder initiative. In addition to RWJF, Johnson & Johnson, Inc., Independence Blue Cross Foundation, Ascension Health, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System, and the Rhode Island Foundation are supporting the Future of Nursing Scholars grants to schools of nursing this year.
In its landmark nursing report, the Institute of Medicine recommended that the country double the number of nurses with doctorates; doing so will support more nurse leaders, promote nurse-led science and discovery, and put more educators in place to prepare the next generation of nurses. The Future of Nursing Scholars program is intended to help address that recommendation.
“At RWJF, we are working to build a Culture of Health that enables everyone in the United States to live the healthiest lives possible,” said Susan Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, co-director of the program and RWJF’s senior adviser for nursing. “This program will create the transformative nurse leaders who can make that vision a reality by driving crucial changes in health care and inspiring future generations of nurses to achieve even more.”
Less than one percent of the nation’s more than 3 million nurses have PhDs in nursing or a related field. In addition, the average age at which nurses get their PhDs in the United States is 4613 years older than PhD earners in other fields. This program will provide an incentive for nurses to start PhD programs earlier, so that they can have long leadership careers after earning their PhDs.
“The Future of Nursing Scholars represent some of the best and brightest minds in nursing today,” said Julie Fairman, PhD, RN, FAAN, Future of Nursing Scholars program co-director. “Each of them has committed to complete their PhD education in only three years. To support their studies, we provide each scholar with a $75,000 scholarship and the leadership, research, and other skills they need to take their nursing careers to the highest levels. They will be at the leading edge of health care research and nursing education.” Fairman is also the Nightingale professor of nursing, the chair of the Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences, and director of the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.
The schools selected for Future of Nursing Scholars grants are:
To be funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Columbia University (one scholar)
Emory University (two scholars)
Duke University (two scholars)
Indiana University (two scholars)
Marquette University (one scholar)
Medical University of South Carolina (one scholar)
The Johns Hopkins University (two scholars)
University of Alabama (two scholars)
University of Cincinnati (two scholars)
University of Hawaii (one scholar)
University of Illinois (two scholars)
University of Kentucky (two scholars)
University of Miami (two scholars)
University of Michigan (two scholars)
University of Minnesota (two scholars
University of Missouri (two scholars)
University of Pennsylvania (one scholar)
University of Texas Austin (two scholars)
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (two scholars)
University of Pittsburgh (two scholars)
Yale University (two scholars)
To be funded by Johnson & Johnson, Inc.
University of Maryland (two scholars)
University of Washington (two scholars)
To be funded by Independence Blue Cross Foundation
University of Pennsylvania (one scholar)
Villanova University (two scholars)
To be funded by Ascension Health
Marquette University (one scholar)
To be funded by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Medical University of South Carolina (one scholar)
To be funded by North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System
Columbia University (one scholar)
To be funded by Rhode Island Foundation
University of Rhode Island (one scholar)
