For the 2014-2015 academic year, Lienhard will receive $50,000 for students in the accelerated bachelor of science in nursing program who are from groups underrepresented in nursing and are pursuing second careers. Five students entering Lienhard in September will be awarded NCIN scholarships of $10,000 each. NCIN is a program of RWJF and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). Pace was among the first institutions to receive funding through this RWJF program in 2008, which has already supported 25 Lienhard students. With the five additional students this year, Pace has been awarded $300,000 in total and is one of 52 schools of nursing comprising the final cohort of the program. “Our leadership plan is unique because of the opportunity afforded to all of the scholars to lead groups of their peers throughout the program," said Martha Greenberg, Ph.D., RN, the grant's principal investigator. "Each scholar is an Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) team leader beginning in the first semester and continues in this leadership role throughout their 11 month program.” Project Director Sharon Wexler, Ph. D., RN, also commented on the opportunity.
“The EBP teams, led by RWJF scholars, present their projects at local and national conferences, an opportunity not commonly found in an undergraduate program,” said Wexler.
By bringing more nurses into the profession at the baccalaureate and master’s degree levels, the NCIN program helps address the nation’s nurse faculty shortage. Ninety-one percent of students who received funding in the first three years of the program indicated a desire to advance to the master’s and doctoral levels.