The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) announced a new scholars program to develop the next generation of nurse leaders in academia and boost the stature of junior faculty in nursing schools. The RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholars program will provide $28 million over the next five years to outstanding junior nursing faculty to help them advance in their fields and seek faculty positions earlier in their careers by providing mentorship, leadership training, salary and research support.
Despite a rise in applicants, nursing schools around the U.S. turn away thousands of prospective students from baccalaureate and masters programs because of an acute shortage of faculty and clinical preceptors, training sites, space and funding constraints. Since the stature of nursing schools and the promotion of nursing faculty are dependent on the quality of the nursing faculty’s scholarly and/or research pursuits, the Nurse Faculty Scholars program will work to strengthen the link between institutional reputation and faculty success by providing career development and other opportunities for outstanding junior faculty. Scholars will be given opportunities to develop a research program and other scholarly activities; work closely with institutional and national mentors; participate in leadership training; and network with scholars, experts and colleagues in their field and other related fields. Scholars also will be able to gain much-needed protected time to get the critical skills needed for a successful career in academic nursing. “Universities are turning away thousands of qualified applicants to nursing schools each year because they lack the faculty to teach them. We have a pipeline problem. We need to fill that pipeline or we all will suffer the consequences,” said RWJF President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A. “We’re committed to supporting the next generation of nursing leaders and encouraging more nurses to seek faculty positions earlier in their careers. Recruiting more nurse educators to the classroom and retaining them in academia is critical if we want to successfully address the nursing shortage.” There are also not enough nurses lined up to fill positions that will be vacated by retiring faculty, and the Nurse Faculty Scholars program will aim to encourage junior nurse faculty to continue on in their roles as educators. “Our intent is to retain the most talented junior faculty we have and create outstanding role models so that more nurses might choose nursing academia as a career,” said RWJF Senior Program Officer Susan Hassmiller, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N. The program will be run out of the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. Jacquelyn C. Campbell, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., Anna D. Wolf chair and professor in the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, respectively, will direct the five-year program. The program will award up to $350,000 for three years to each RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholar; up to 15 scholars will be selected each year. Applicants must be junior faculty members with at least two but no more than five years of experience in a faculty role. Candidates who completed their doctoral degree within 10 years of receiving their initial nursing degree are encouraged to apply.
