Emory
Nursing School Receives $5 Million Endowment For Nursing Education
Program
ATLANTA -- An
innovative program to increase the nation's supply of university-trained
nurse leaders has received an extraordinary boost with the commitment
of $5 million from The Helene Fuld Health Trust to Emory University's
Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. The largest single gift in
the school's history will establish an endowment to support the Nursing
Segue Program —a specialized program for individuals who have earned
bachelor's degrees in other fields.
"Students who come to nursing
with degrees from other fields bring a unique capacity for caring,"
says nursing dean Marla Salmon, RN, Sc.D, FAAN. "Their grounding in
arts and sciences positions them to lead nursing in improving health
care. The Helene Fuld Health Trust gift enables these students to realize
their enormous potential, which in turn is a gift to all society."
With the nation experiencing
an unprecedented nursing shortage, nursing school administrators see
the Segue program as a unique way to produce more nurses and expand
the leadership pool within the nursing community.
After three years of study,
graduates of the Emory Nursing Segue Program will have earned both bachelor's
(BSN) and master's of science (MSN) degrees in nursing.
A pilot program was initiated
in which eight highly promising students were provided with an accelerated
option for completion of both the bachelor's and master's degrees. The
outcome of this pilot demonstrated its success and also highlighted
the need for scholarships to support exceptional students who qualified
for the program.
"The Fuld gift has generously
addressed this need," Dr. Salmon says. "From the pilot program, we know
that careful selection of students based on both clinical performance
and academic success is necessary. Our undergraduate faculty will work
closely with the students to select clinical placements that will enhance
their capacity for clinical excellence and leadership while moving towards
a nursing practice specialty."
Through the nursing school's
Office of Service Learning, students will have the chance to live in
and provide health care services to migrant farm communities, join a
health care expedition to Haiti or Cuba, or conduct health screening
and education programs at an inner city Atlanta high school.
"The Fuld gift enables us
to provide scholarships for students—a critical element for the Segue
Program's success," explains Anne Bavier, assistant dean of development/alumni
and external relations in the nursing school. "Typically, students who
enter school for a second baccalaureate degree have exhausted their
eligibility for federal loans in the course of their first undergraduate
program. Because they have usually been employed and have income after
their first undergraduate degree, their eligibility for student loans
from any source is jeopardized. Thus, these endowment funds are a resource
to insure the participation of dedicated students."
"Providing financial aid
to nursing students remains the top priority of the Helene Fuld Health
Trust," says Stephen Boies of HSBC Bank USA, the Trustee. "The Nursing
Segue Program impressed us with its plan to prepare highly qualified
students for rewarding careers in nursing, providing its graduates with
education and leadership skills that will enable them to shape the future
of healthcare."
The $5 million endowment
will be distributed in $1 million annual installments for five years,
beginning in September 2002. The Fuld Health Trust granted an additional
cash amount to aid the first group of students while the endowment continues
to grow.
In recruitment efforts for
the incoming BSN class of 2003, the Emory nursing school faculty began
to promote the Segue Program and Fuld Scholarships to those with baccalaureate
degrees in other fields.
"Declining enrollments in
nursing schools, drastic changes in the financing and organization of
health care systems, and rapid technological advances in all aspects
of healthcare contributed to the current nursing shortage," Dr. Salmon
says. "The Segue Program will produce more nurses and a leadership corps
with a broad background to find innovative solutions to our healthcare
challenges."
The Helene Fuld Health Trust
is the nation's largest private funder devoted exclusively to nursing
students and nursing education. In 1935, Dr Leonhard Felix Fuld and
his sister, Florentine, created a foundation in honor of their mother,
Helene. In 1965, the foundation was converted to the Helene Fuld Health
Trust, and in 1969, HSBC Bank USA (formerly Marine Midland Bank) became
its corporate trustee. HSBC Bank USA is currently responsible for overseeing
and administering the Fuld Trust.
|