The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently announced that it will be awarding Mercer University more than $430,000 in grant money to support nursing training and increase the number of qualified nursing professionals in the country. In a statement released by the dean of Mercer College, Dr. Linda Streit, the grant money will be primarily used to help graduate students meet their financial obligations so that they can receive an advanced education in the field of nursing. The funds will also be used to help aid recruitment and enhance health care throughout the state of Georgia.
Mercer University received two grants, one worth $413,815 and another worth $17,833. The first grant worth $413,815 will be used to help fund the university’s Nurse Faculty Loan Program, which assists registered nurses looking to complete their graduate school education so that they can become qualified nurse faculty. This scholarship program is open to all graduate students who include the nurse educator track in their curriculum, including the doctoral program, the Doctor of Nursing Program, and the Master of Science in Nursing program.
This grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services helps continue this growing program, which has now received more than $2 million since 2004. Loans provided to graduate students through this program are forgivable up to 85% for those who work as full-time academic nurse educators for four years after graduation. The annual loan limit established by the federal government for this program is $35,500, which is enough to provide students the opportunity to seek their graduate education full time.
The other grant received by Mercer University will be used to fund the Advanced Education Nursing Traineeship. This scholarship will be used to fund traineeships for registered nurses enrolled in advanced education nursing programs, such as the new family nurse practitioner specialty of the Master of Science of Nursing degree. These traineeships will help prepare nursing students for careers in specialty fields such as clinical nurse specialists, nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists, nurse administrators, nurse educators, and public health nurses.
