Tash Mahnokaren

Staff Writer

As part of a national effort to curb the national shortage of registered nurses, Idaho State University received a $20,000 grant from the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare.

The donation was matched by the university. It will fund scholarships for two doctoral nursing students for the upcoming 2014-2015 academic year.

According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, a shortage of registered nurses is projected to spread across the country between 2009 and 2030. This is due to factors such as the aging of baby boomers and recent changes to healthcare reform.

According to the Jonas Center website, 59 doctoral nursing students at almost two dozen leading institutes have had their schooling funded by the center’s initiatives.

Along with recruitment and retention of nurses in the healthcare field, the Jonas Center also aims to increase ethnic and racial diversity in the healthcare field.

“The call for more nurses, and thus the faculty to prepare them, is massive,” said Donald Jonas, co-­founder of the Jonas Center in a press release.

“Healthcare in America has never been more complex, yet tens of thousands of would­-be nurses are turned away from the profession each year. We’ve stepped up the pace and expanded our programs to meet this need,” Jonas continued.

These scholarships are part of a greater effort to cushion faculty shortages nationwide and also to produce nurses with the proper acumen to work in the advancing American healthcare field.

“I am pleased this award allows our school to prepare a greater number of future nurse faculty leaders,” said Mary Nies, dean of ISU’s School of Nursing in a press release.

“The grant opens more opportunities for our nursing department,” said Kelsy Medlock, a nursing student at ISU.

“This will allow the department to update materials and possibly provide a positive experience for all nursing students. If this grant is used to the department’s advantage, then nursing schools across the nation will possibly obtain more grants and, thus, a stronger turnout of well-trained nurses,” Medlock said.