Nurses are universal to health care delivery. They are typically the first point of contact for patients in a variety of settings and are uniquely positioned to innovate solutions to today’s most urgent health care challenges.
We are steadfast advocates of the critical role nurses play and are committed to advancing nursing education and developing the next generation of nurse leaders.
It starts by providing nurses with financial support to complete degrees at all levels. In 2018, we awarded more than $1.1 million in Nurses for Tomorrow grants to support scholarships for undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral nursing students at 22 nursing schools.
With more than $10 million in nursing grants awarded to date, our Foundation has helped nearly 3,000 nursing students pursue their passions for patient care, research, teaching, and leadership.
Antonia Villarruel, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N.
Professor and Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania
Nursing students at schools supported by Nurses for Tomorrow scholarships have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to enrich their undergraduate education through our Foundation’s immersive, 10-week Nursing Internship Program.
Since 2011, nearly 200 undergraduate nursing students have completed the Nursing Internship Program and enhanced their professional and leadership skills at a community health center or in a health care administration setting at Independence Blue Cross.
One of the most innovative aspects of our program is the inclusion of three, full-day Leadership Labs that complement the students’ hands-on experiences.
Partnering with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, we offered a new Leadership Lab in 2018. Our 23 interns learned more about the business of health care, innovation, entrepreneurship, and research, and networked with top professionals in the field.
We are working to expand the Nursing Internship Program’s reach by placing students at new health centers and making it possible for them to earn academic credits for completing the program.
We will also use the program’s Leadership Labs to enhance how undergraduate nursing students relate to and work with specific populations to help prepare them to provide culturally competent care and effectively advocate for their patients’ unique needs.
Maila K. Turay
Temple University, Foundation nurse intern, 2017 cohort
Nurses hold the keys to ideas that can unlock new and better ways to deliver care to an increasingly diverse patient population.
With a $600,000 investment, we were the inaugural funder of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholars program, aimed at developing the next generation of Ph.D.-prepared nurse educators and thought leaders. This funding has supported eight Future of Nursing Scholars who have earned a Ph.D., with the final two scholars graduating in 2019.
We will continue to help build a diverse pipeline of future nurse practitioners and educators who are prepared to provide culturally competent care through additional funding for community-based projects. We will award $130,000 in grant funding to 13 graduate and doctoral nursing programs.
To help nurses expand their knowledge on specific topics, such as helping patients with substance use disorder connect to treatment resources, we will begin offering customized on-demand continuing nursing education modules on the Nurse.com platform.
As part of our partnership with the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, we hosted the first in a series of seminars that explore diversity in nursing.
We will also continue to help foster a diverse and inclusive nursing workforce by expanding our leadership on the Pennsylvania Action Coalition’s Nurse Diversity Council.
Just like nurses stand by us whenever we need them, we stand by them and support their work to make health care better for all.
Thomas Lampert, B.S.N.
Neumann University, Nurses for Tomorrow scholarship recipient
