Vanderbilt University School of Nursing has received a $1.35 million grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP) to support Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students who are interested in becoming nursing faculty members. The award brings the funds the school has received for the NFLP program since 2008 to nearly $10 million.
“The American Association of Colleges of Nursing reported that U.S. nursing schools turned away 80,407 qualified applications in 2019, due in part to an insufficient number of faculty,” said Linda Norman, DSN, FAAN, the Valere Potter Menefee Professor of Nursing and dean of VUSN. “This loan forgiveness program equips our DNP graduates to be educators who can help shape the next generation of nursing professionals.”
DNP students who plan to teach can receive a NFLP award to underwrite up to 85 percent of VUSN tuition, books, fees and associated costs if they are employed as faculty in any school of nursing in the United States for four years following graduation. As part of the program, Vanderbilt NFLP recipients are required to take courses focused on nursing education.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has created even more awareness of nurses and the key roles they play in health care,” Norman said. “The need for nurses will only grow as we continue to care for COVID patients and adapt to providing health care differently. To be responsive, we need to increase the number of doctorally prepared faculty who can help nursing schools expand their enrollments.”