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News and Announcements for: October 2008
Congresswoman Castor highlights new $3.5M VA Nursing Academy
L to R: U.S. Rep Kathy Castor talks about the USF College of Nursing's partnership with James A. Haley VA Hospital, flanked by Marian Hardwick and Carey Ledee, among the first USF nursing students enrolled in the new VA Nursing Academy.TAMPA, FL (Oct. 27, 2008) -- A new nursing academy will help alleviate the state’s nursing shortage, offer care to wounded veterans and create high-paying jobs in the Tampa Bay area, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor said today. "It marries a number of missions," Castor said. "This VA Nursing Academy is a wonderful new initiative that builds upon the collaboration of USF and the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital. With the Haley VA's new state-of-the-art spinal cord injury wing as a backdrop, Castor was joined at the news conference by Patricia Burns, PhD, dean of the USF College of Nursing, and Sandra Janzen, associate director for patient care services/nursing programs at the Haley VA Hospital. The Department of Veterans Affairs has provided $3.5 million to USF’s College of Nursing to establish the VA Nursing Academy. USF's nursing school is one of 11 across the country to date selected to form nursing academies with 10 VA medical centers. The money allows Haley and the nursing college to hire five faculty members this year and another five next year. That, in turn, allows the school to enroll more nursing students. As a result of the program, 100 new nurses are expected to graduate with their baccalaureate degrees in the next four years, Janzen said. If they join the VA system, those new nurses can expect starting salaries of about $47,000, she said. "These are high-paying jobs for our community at a time when unemployment is on the rise," Castor said. "These are good paying jobs with good benefits." 
L to R: Patricia Burns, PhD, dean of the USF College of Nursing; Sandra Janzen, associate director for patient care services/nursing at the Haley VA Hospital; and Congresswoman Kathy Castor responded to questions about the partnership's impact on Florida's nursing shortage.The nursing students do clinical work at Haley, where they gain first-hand experience treating the nation’s veterans. They will be exposed to specialized services including mental health, physical rehabilitation, polytrauma and spinal cord injury care. Haley officials hope the nursing students will eventually work at the VA hospital. The program has three main goals: to expand teaching faculty, to improve recruitment and retention of nurses, and to create new educational and research opportunities. Florida’s nursing shortage is acute. The state is short nearly 13,000 registered nurses this year. By 2020, the shortage is expected to reach more than 52,000, according to the Florida Center for Nursing. Part of the problem is nursing schools are forced to turn away qualified applicants. In 2007, for example, nursing schools had to say no to more than 40,000 qualified applicants, primarily because the schools didn’t have enough faculty members to teach the aspiring nurses, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Students enrolled in the VA Nursing Academy are eligible to apply for $10,000 scholarships awarded through USF’s College of Nursing and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Nursing Academy initiative underscores Castor’s work on higher education, health care and military affairs. Castor pushed for the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which provides loan forgiveness to students entering careers in public service – including nursing. Congress also allocated $2.4 million for a program through the USF College of Nursing to help veterans cope with emotional health and other problems. 
USF College of Nursing Dean Patricia Burns with Kathy Castor. 
USF nursing student Marian Hardwick, a participant in the VA Nursing Academy, is interviewed by ABC Action News anchor Sarina Fazan. 
Hardwick and Ledee help out veterans Alfred Rozelle (second from left) and Charles Alston during lunchtime at the Haley VA spinal cord injury unit. Cas Cahill, far left, USF assistant professor of nursing, is director of the VA Nursing Academy. 
Alston shares a laugh with nursing student Ledee.
USF awarded $100,000 for RWJF New Careers in Nursing Program
VA Nursing Academy participants Marian Hardwick, left, and Carey Ledee were two of eight students in the College of Nursing's Accelerated Second Degree Program awarded RWJF scholarships this fall. Hardwick has a bachelor's degree in health education and Ledee in biology.The University of South Florida (USF) College of Nursing is among the first institutions in the nation to receive funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) through the RWJF New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program. Grants provided through this competitive program will be used for scholarships to increase the number of students enrolled in USF College of Nursing’s accelerated baccalaureate nursing program. This groundbreaking national initiative, launched by RWJF and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), aims to help alleviate the nation’s nursing shortage by dramatically expanding the pipeline of students in accelerated nursing programs. The USF College of Nursing was awarded $100,000 to provide 10 student scholarships for 2008/2009.Scholarship applications were distributed to the incoming class of Accelerated Second Degree students from the VA Nursing Academy (VANA) cohort, and 8 eligible students were awarded the scholarships on Sept. 22. The VA Nursing Academy is a collaboration between The Department of Veterans Affairs and the USF College of Nursing aimed at boosting care for veterans and job opportunities for nurses. Students were thrilled to have this wonderful opportunity. One student commented, "This is unbelievable – now I can focus on my courses without worrying about the bills so much!" Another said, "You can't imagine how much this is going to help me because now I can drop back my hours at work!" Through the RWJF New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program, scholarships in the amount of $10,000 each will be distributed to entry-level nursing students in accelerated programs during the 2008-2009 academic year. Award preference is given to students from groups underrepresented in nursing or from disadvantaged backgrounds. Grant funding also will be used by the school of nursing to help leverage new faculty resources and provide mentoring and leadership development resources to ensure successful program completion by scholarship recipients. "This program aims to safeguard the health of the nation by helping to ease the nurse and nurse faculty shortage," said RWJF President Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A. "This new initiative also will advance our strategic goal of promoting leadership in the health professions."The RWJF New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program supports accelerated programs, which offer the most efficient route to licensure as a registered nurse for adults who have already completed a baccalaureate or graduate degree in a discipline other than nursing. Although enrollment in these programs has steadily increased over the past few years, many potential students are unable to enroll since already having a college degree disqualifies them for receiving most federal financial aid programs for entry-level students. The New Careers in Nursing scholarships address this problem, and will also address the overall nursing shortage, by enabling hundreds of students to launch their nursing careers through accelerated education. "Students admitted to USF under the VA program will do their clinical work at the James A. Haley VA Hospital in Tampa and, ideally, will end up working there," said Dr. Cass Cahill, an Assistant Professor at USF and Director of the new VA Nursing Academy.USF was competitively selected as one of seven nursing schools across the nation this year to join the VA Nursing Academy. The VA awarded $3.5-million grant to the university to establish the VA Nursing Academy at USF. The money will pay for five faculty positions for four years and is part of a five-year, $40-million effort by the VA to team up with universities near their medical centers. “The VA Nursing Academy expands our teaching faculty, improves recruitment and retention, and creates new educational and research opportunities," U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs James B. Peake said in a statement. By bringing more nurses into the profession at the baccalaureate and master’s degree levels, the new scholarship program also helps to address the nation’s nurse faculty shortage. Data from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration show that nurses entering the profession at the baccalaureate level are four times more likely than other nurses to pursue a graduate degree in nursing, which is the required credential to teach. Additionally, the program targets the need to recruit students from groups underrepresented in nursing or disadvantaged backgrounds. According to the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice, diversifying the nursing profession is essential to meeting the health care needs of the nation and reducing health disparities that exist among many underserved populations. Two scholarships are being held in reserve at the USF College of Nursing until the next class of VANA students are admitted, which is expected to be in April 2008. Only students who are admitted to the College of Nursing in the accelerated second degree program are eligible. AACN serves as the National Program Office for this RWJF initiative and oversees the grant application submission and review processes. For more information about this program, visit www.newcareersinnursing.org. - Story by Ashlea Hudak, USF College of Nursing Communications - Photo by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications
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