Hampton, Va. – The Hampton University School of Nursing received a $50,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) New Careers in Nursing Scholarship (NCIN) Program. Five scholarships worth $10,000 each will be awarded to students entering the university’s accelerated nursing program in the 2011-2012 academic year.

The NCIN program was launched in 2008 by the foundation, and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), to address the national nursing shortage and develop a diverse professional nursing workforce. Since its inception, 2, 317 scholarships to students at 108 nursing schools were distributed.

“We are honored to be one of the nursing schools that have been selected to become a part of the Robert Wood Johnson New Careers in Nursing Program,” said Dr. Michelle Penn-Marshall, the grant’s principal investigator and the HU Director of Student Academic Support Services in the School of Nursing.

The HU College of Virginia Beach offers the accelerated nursing program, which caters to non-traditional students, and offers a three-year curriculum course of study.

“This scholarship is an excellent opportunity for five students who have previously earned a bachelor’s degree in another discipline, to be afforded the opportunity to prepare for an exciting new career in nursing,” said Shevellanie E. Lott, co-principal investigator of the grant and Chairperson of the Department of Undergraduate Nursing Education at the HU College of Virginia Beach.

Read referenced article at Hampton University