$2 million grant for CSUF nursing program celebrated
By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-10-05 13:43:41 | Word Count: 517
Cal State Fullerton’s Department of Nursing hosted an awards ceremony to celebrate a $2 million grant from United Health Group on Tuesday.
The grant will help fund CSUF Department of Nursing’s $3.5 million Expanding Healthcare Access through Nursing project, which is “aimed at boosting the number of yearly graduates from the CSUF nursing program and providing more highly educated nurses for undeserved and low-income communities, stated a joint press release from CSUF and UnitedHealth Group.
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Chandra Torgenson, senior vice president and chief nursing officer of UnitedHealth Group, explained that California, as well as the nation, has a shortage of nurses. “UnitedHealth Group wanted to demonstrate the value of nurses by giving them this grant so they can grow their technology and get better equipment for their skills lab,” Torgenson said.
“Because nursing education is both labor and resource intensive, there is always a gap between the normal state reimbursement rate and the actual costs incurred by the university in operating the nursing program,” President Milton Gordon stated in the press release.
Despite a shortage of nurses, there has not been enough funding for colleges to admit more students into their nursing programs, stated the press release. This grant was awarded to Cal State Fullerton to help alleviate the problem.“The grant will allow admission of about 124 students over the next four years,” Cindy Greenberg, chair of the department of nursing, said. It will also “help to maintain equipment, support faculty and provide adequate facilities.”
“It will provide a great opportunity for nursing students who are applying and for those already in the program,” Sara Barnes, second cohort, Entry Level Masters of Science in Nursing, said.
The nursing program has officially named its new training facility, funded by UnitedHealth Group, the “UnitedHealthcare Nursing Skills Lab,” stated the press release.
“The lab is like a hospital unit with mannequins that students practice on,” which is safer than working with live patients, Greenberg explained. There are different types of mannequins for students to practice on to give them diverse hands-on experience in their field.
“The support of the lab gives us the opportunity to do hands-on stuff to take the knowledge and apply it. It’s the closest thing to the real thing,” Boudsakhone Sundara-Nunez, nursing grad, third class, said.
Barnes quoted Clay P. Bedford as she spoke at the ceremony and said: “You can teach a student a lesson for a day but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.”
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