Essex County Nurse Receives Prestigious Scholarship To Study to Become Nurse Faculty Member, Will Give Back to State

Jan 13, 2010 | Press Releases

Contact: Gretchen Wright and Johanna Diaz – (202) 371-1999

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, New Jersey Nursing Initiative
Name 29 New Jersey Nursing Scholars
 
Trenton, NJ – What if New Jersey didn’t have enough nurses to meet the state’s health care needs? What if emergency rooms were understaffed, health clinics closed and nursing schools severely reduced their programs? The scenario is possible if nothing is done about the state’s looming nurse faculty shortage.
 
But the New Jersey Nursing Initiative (NJNI) is working to ensure that does not happen. This fall, NJNI has named 29 RWJF New Jersey Nursing Scholars. One of them is from Essex county: Hye Jin Gehring, R.N., B.S.N., from Nutley, earning her M.S.N. in Nursing from The College of New Jersey. 
 
NJNI is a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Foundation (NJCCF). RWJF New Jersey Nursing Scholars receive generous benefits and support to help them complete their graduate or doctoral studies. In exchange, each Scholar makes a commitment to teach for at least three years, after graduation, as a full-time faculty member at a New Jersey based pre-licensure nursing program. That commitment means the Scholars will significantly increase the capacity of New Jersey nursing programs to educate the next generation of the state’s nursing workforce.
 
“We are facing a nurse faculty shortage of crisis proportions in this state,” said NJNI Program Director Susan Bakewell-Sachs, Ph.D., R.N., P.N.P.-B.C. “Unless we solve it, and put a sufficient number of nurse faculty in place, nursing schools will not be able to educate the nurses we need to meet our state’s future health care needs. Many current nurse faculty members are approaching retirement, and there are not enough replacements in the pipeline to fill their positions. NJNI is proud to be a part of the solution. The 29 RWJF New Jersey Nursing Scholars are among our state’s best and brightest. They will educate the next generation of nurses for years to come.” Bakewell-Sachs is dean of the School of Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science at The College of New Jersey.
 
“I wanted to be a New Jersey Nursing Scholar so that I could become a nurse faculty member and help reverse the faculty shortage that we are facing which severely impacts the nursing shortage. I also love how this program gives us formal education on how to become a great faculty member, which is unique and very beneficial to those of us without any experience teaching,” said Gehring.
 
The goal of NJNI is to increase the number of nurse faculty in the state, so there will be enough nurses to meet the needs of state residents. The Faculty Preparation Program has awarded $13.5M in grants to New Jersey based nursing programs and education collaboratives. Each Scholar has received a scholarship covering tuition and fees, and a $50,000 per year stipend to cover living expenses for the two to four years spent as full-time students.
 
Few practicing nurses have the qualifications to teach; only nine percent have a master’s degree, and just one percent of registered nurses have a doctorate. That is due to significant challenges to becoming nurse faculty, including the prerequisite that all nurse faculty obtain at least a master’s degree.
 
Many nurses practice first and get advanced degrees later. The lack of available scholarships has caused many nurse faculty members to pursue their graduate studies part-time. The median time span for nurses to proceed from masters to doctorate is now 15.9 years. As a result, the mean age of nurse faculty prepared at the doctoral level is 54. Because these nurses continue their education later in life, nurse faculty may not have long full-time teaching careers.
 
NJNI is attracting younger nurses to faculty roles; they are likely to enjoy a significantly longer teaching career than the average nurse faculty who joins mid career.
 
Scholars elsewhere in New Jersey are:
 
  • Elizabeth Arnold, R.N., B.S.N., Kean University, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
  • Rashida L. Atkins, M.S.N., A.P.N., F.N.P.-B.C., Rutgers, Ph.D. in Nursing Program
  • Christine Bray, R.N., B.S.N., Richard Stockton College, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
  • Erin Cleary, R.N., B.S.N., Fairleigh Dickinson University, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
  • Andrew Fruhschien, R.N., B.S.N., N.J.E.M.T.B., Fairleigh Dickinson University, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
  • Primerose Germain, R.N., B.S.N., University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
  • Caitlin Lehrfeld, R.N., B.S.N., Richard Stockton College, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
  • Catherine Jirak Monetti, R.N., M.A., Rutgers, Ph.D. in Nursing Program
  • Shanda Johnson, M.S., F.N.P., A.P.C.-N., Rutgers, Ph.D. in Nursing Program
  • Tracy Kalemba, M.S.N., R.N., Rutgers, Ph.D. in Nursing Program
  • Connie Kartoz, R.N., M.S., F.N.P.-B.C., Seton Hall University, Ph.D. in Nursing Program
  • Sheila Linz, R.N., P.M.H.N.P.-B.C., A.P.N., Seton Hall University, Ph.D. in Nursing Program
  • Maria LoGrippo, M.S.N., R.N., Seton Hall University, Ph.D. in Nursing Program
  • Maryann Magloire-Wilson, R.N., B.A., University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
  • Kristine Martinho, R.N., B.S.N., The College of New Jersey, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
  • Aleesa Mobley, R.N., M.S., A.P.N.C., Rutgers, Ph.D. in Nursing Program
  • Tara Lynne Parker, R.N., B.S.N., A.N.P., William Paterson University, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
  • Latoya Rawlins, R.N., B.S.N., Monmouth University, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
  • Mary (Rusti) Restaino, R.N., B.S.N, M.B.A., William Paterson University, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
  • Patricia Saveriano, R.N., B.S.N., University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
  • Robert Scoloveno, M.S., R.N., Rutgers, Ph.D. in Nursing Program
  • Michelle Skiber, R.N., B.S.N., Monmouth University, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
  • Jenée Skinner-Hamler, R.N., B.S.N., T.N.C.C., A.T.C.N., University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
  • Kristi Stinson, R.N., B.S.N., M.S.N., A.P.N.-B.C., Seton Hall University, Ph.D. in Nursing Program
  • Andrea Taylor, R.N., B.S.N., Kean University, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
  • Lia Valentin, R.N., B.S.N., University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
  • Munira Wells, M.S.N., R.N., Seton Hall University, Ph.D. in Nursing Program
  • Dorothy Withers, R.N., B.S.N., University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, M.S.N. in Nursing Program
 
For more information, visit www.NJNI.org.
 
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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, we work with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 35 years we’ve brought experience, commitment and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those we serve. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, we expect to make a difference in your lifetime.
 
The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce is a business advocacy organization based in Trenton. Created in 1911, the State Chamber staff represents its members on a wide range of business and education issues at the State House and in Washington. The organization also links the state’s local and regional chambers on issues of importance through its grassroots legislative network.