Final Cohort of RWJF NCIN Program Awards Grants to 400 Scholarships Wednesday, May 28, 2014 Final Cohort of RWJF New Careers in Nursing Program Grantees Receive Awards to Provide 400 Scholarships for Accelerated Degree Nursing Students Fifty-two schools of nursing to receive funding and assistance to support second-career nurses from groups underrepresented in the profession. PRINCETON, N.J. – The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today announced awards to 52 schools of nursing that will comprise the final cohort of RWJF’s prestigious New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program (NCIN). For the 2014-2015 academic year, the schools will receive grants to support traditionally underrepresented students who are making a career switch to nursing through an accelerated baccalaureate or master’s degree program. NCIN is a program of RWJF and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). “New Careers in Nursing has made amazing strides in helping schools of nursing recruit and retain diverse students in these competitive and rigorous accelerated degree programs,” said David Krol, MD, MPH, FAAP, RWJF senior program officer. “Through supporting these institutions, NCIN is working to increase the diversity of our nursing workforce, while also assisting schools of nursing in making their institutions more inclusive. The leadership, mentoring and other support these institutions provide are helping to prepare a diverse nursing workforce able to meet the challenges associated with building a culture of health in our nation.” Each NCIN Scholar has already earned a bachelor’s degree in another field and is making a transition to nursing through an accelerated nursing degree program, which prepares students to assume the role of registered nurse in as little as 12-18 months. In addition to a $10,000 scholarship, NCIN scholars receive other support to help them meet the demands of an accelerated degree program. All NCIN grantee schools maintain a leadership program and a mentoring program for their scholars, as well as a pre-entry immersion program to assist scholars in learning essential study, test-taking, and other skills needed to succeed in their program of study. “Nursing and nursing education are at a critical juncture right now, and NCIN’s exemplary approach to supporting nursing schools is helping to strengthen both,” said AACN President Eileen Breslin, PhD, RN, FAAN. “NCIN’s creative, innovative and responsive approach to providing grantees with tools to ensure academic success will result in lasting changes at nursing schools nationwide. The NCIN program has truly raised the bar for recruitment, retention, mentoring and leadership development for nursing students from groups underrepresented in nursing.” Since 2008, the NCIN program has distributed 3,517 scholarships to students at 130 unique schools of nursing. This year, funding for 400 scholarships was granted to 52 schools of nursing. In this seventh year of the program, the following schools were awarded grants: Bellarmine University Boston College College of St. Scholastica Columbia University Duke University Duquesne University Edgewood College Georgia Regents University Indiana University Lewis University Linfield College Marquette University Medical University of South Carolina MidAmerica Nazarene University Mount Carmel Health System Foundation Nebraska Methodist New Jersey City University New York University Oregon Health & Science University Pace University Quinnipiac University Rush University Medical Center Saint Louis University Samford University Samuel Merritt University Seattle University Seton Hall University Southern Connecticut State University Stony Brook Foundation SUNY Downstate Medical Center The University of Texas at El Paso Thomas Edison State College Thomas Jefferson University University of Cincinnati University of Delaware University of Hawaii at Manoa University of Maryland, Baltimore University of Massachusetts, Amherst University of Miami University of Michigan, Flint University of Minnesota University of Mississippi Medical Center University of Missouri, Kansas City University of Pennsylvania University of Pittsburgh University of Rochester University of San Diego University of South Alabama University of Tennessee, Knoxville Valdosta State University Winston-Salem State University Yale University The 2010 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, recommends increasing the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree or higher, and increasing the diversity of students to create a nursing workforce prepared to meet the healthcare demands of diverse populations across the lifespan. NCIN is helping to advance those recommendations by enabling schools to expand student capacity and by encouraging more diversity. By bringing more nurses into the profession at the baccalaureate and master’s degree levels, the NCIN program also helps to address the nation’s nurse faculty shortage. This trend is reflected in the NCIN scholars, as 91 percent of the students receiving funding in the first three years of the program indicated a desire to advance their education to the master’s and doctoral levels. To learn more about the NCIN program, visit www.NewCareersInNursing.org. ### About NCIN The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) joined with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) to create New Careers in Nursing (NCIN): an RWJF Scholarship Program to help alleviate the nursing shortage and increase the diversity of nursing professionals. Through annual grants to schools of nursing, NCIN provides $10,000 scholarships to college graduates with degrees in other fields who wish to transition into nursing through an accelerated baccalaureate or master’s nursing program. For more information, visit www.newcareersinnursing.org. About RWJF For more than 40 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve the health and health care of all Americans. We are striving to build a national culture of health that will enable all Americans to live longer, healthier lives now and for generations to come. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook. Categories: Policy & Advocacy, Press Release