Jonas grant to fund nursing doctoral students

The School of Nursing will fund scholarships for three doctoral nursing students in 2016 with the help of a new grant from the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare.

The UB School of Nursing Jonas Scholars join more than 1,000 future nurse educators and leaders at 140 universities across all 50 states with support from Jonas Center programs, the Jonas Nurse Leaders Scholars Program and Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program (JVHP). These scholarships support nurses pursuing PhDs and DNPs, the terminal degrees in the field.

Through the grant, the UB School of Nursing joins a national effort to stem the faculty shortage and prepare the next generation of nurses — critical as a clinical nurse shortage is anticipated just as an aging population requires care.

As the nation’s leading philanthropic funder of graduate nursing education, the Jonas Center is addressing the critical need for qualified nursing faculty. U.S. nursing schools turned away nearly 70,000 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2014 due in large part to an insufficient number of faculty, according to American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Furthermore, nearly two-thirds of registered nurses over the age of 54 say they are considering retirement — just as an aging population requires care and a clinical nurse shortage is anticipated — according to a survey by AMN Healthcare.

“In 2008, we set an ambitious goal to support 1,000 Jonas Nurse Scholars. This year, on our center’s 10th anniversary, we celebrate this achievement and are amazed by the talent of this cohort of future nurse leaders,” says Donald Jonas, who co-founded the center with Barbara Jonas, his wife.

“In the decade to come, we look forward to continuing to work with our partner nursing schools and to the great impact that the Jonas Scholars will have on improving health care around the world.”

The UB School of Nursing Jonas Scholars will begin their graduate careers in the fall and will be supported through 2018 as they focus on critical health priorities. These new Jonas Scholars, who will be announced at a later date, will join previous nursing scholars, several who are PhD and DNP graduates, and others who are current students in the UB PhD and DNP programs.

“This generous award from the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare helps to facilitate advancing nursing science, educating nursing leaders and improving health care for our veterans and in our community,” says Marsha L. Lewis, dean of the UB School of Nursing.