UR Gets Grant to Help Nursing Students

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

By Lauren Stanforth
Staff Writer

The University of Rochester School of Nursing has received a $250,000 federal grant to assist in increasing enrollment in the wake of a nationwide nursing shortage.

The grant, announced Monday by Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, will be used for scholarships for people in UR’s accelerated nursing program. Established three years ago, the accelerated program allows people who already have bachelor’s degrees to get a registered nurse bachelor’s degree in one year.

“We’re anxious to get nurses as quickly to the bedside as possible,” said Patricia Chiverton, dean of the School of Nursing.

The accelerated program already has grown from 24 to 57 students a year, but school officials hope to increase those numbers after the school unveils a 26,000-square-foot classroom and auditorium expansion in August.

Nursing schools across the country are looking to expand their programs to stem the shortage of nurses. The health care industry will be missing 20 percent of the nurses needed by the year 2020, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The registered nurse population under the age of 30 dropped from 25.1 percent in 1980 to 9.1 percent in 2000, according to the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses.

Slaughter said the money was earmarked as an economic incentive to bolster employment in the community. “In many ways, the economic engine of Rochester is taking place here,” Slaughter said.

The university isn’t sure how the money will be divvied up or over how many years, but officials estimate it could assist an extra 20 students. The school already provides $600,000 in need and merit-based scholarships per year.