VCU School of Nursing receives HRSA award to help expand nursing faculty
VCU School of Nursing received a $196,637 Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP) award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
NFLP is a one-year funding opportunity designed to increase the number of qualified nursing faculty by supporting doctoral students who are committed to becoming nurse faculty. Loans are provided to nursing students who receive up to 85% loan cancellation in exchange for full-time post-graduate employment as nurse faculty.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing has identified the shortage of faculty as one of the major obstacles to increasing the nation’s nursing workforce to meet the health care needs of the U.S. population, said Debra Barksdale, Ph.D., FNP-BC, CNE, FAANP, ANEF, FAAN, associate dean of academic affairs and program director for the NFLP award.
“This faculty shortage affects colleges and schools of nursing across the nation, which ultimately impacts the number of registered nurses who enter the work force each year,” Barksdale said. “It’s important to provide incentive for more nursing students to become faculty and train the next generation of nurses.”
VCU School of Nursing offers both Doctor of Nursing Practice and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. NFLP funds will be distributed to doctoral students who include education courses and practical experiences in their programs of study and commit to becoming nursing faculty following graduation.
“We’re pleased to be able to lessen the financial burden for doctoral students who want to become educators, while at the same time producing more nursing faculty to help accommodate student demand,” Barksdale said.
Categories Education, Faculty and Staff