RWJF New Careers in Nursing Provided 40 Scholarships to MEPN Students
The NCIN program, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, has granted $10,000 scholarships to more than 1,500 college graduates who were enrolled in accelerated baccalaureate and master’s nursing programs. With the goal of increasing the diversity of nursing professionals, including underrepresented groups in nursing and those from disadvantaged backgrounds, the program completed funding its last group of scholarship recipients. Of the seven cohorts, forty UH Manoa Nursing GEPN students were recipients of this scholarship.
In September 2015, UH Manoa Nursing participated in the grand finale summit of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s New Careers in Nursing (NCIN) scholarship program in Washington, D.C. Then MEPN director Allen Hanberg, MEPN/GEPN coordinator Shannon Mark, and Family Nurse Practitioner graduate student Bryan Chin traveled to the East Coast to attend the conference. The summit was the last annual gathering for NCIN liaisons and staff involved in the program.
“NCIN Scholars are a unique group in that they represent nursing in the United States in a new way,” said Chin, a member of UH GEPN cohort 6 who participated in several scholar-only seminars focusing on keeping the momentum going. “The key is to get all GEPN students involved and united, as we are all bringing our backgrounds as second-career nurses into this profession and are helping to bring fresh, new perspectives.”
“Since UH Manoa Nursing has been a site for many years, I have been able to see those scholars exit our GEPN program and have a huge influence on healthcare within the state of Hawaii,” said Hanberg.
For more information about Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s New Careers in Nursing scholarship program, visit http://www.newcareersinnursing.org.