Two-part gift brings MCG clinical nurse leader program to GSW

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Medical College of Georgia has received a two-part gift just under $1.3 million from the Helene Fuld Health Trust to expand nursing education in Georgia.
           

A $1.1 million component of the gift, given over three years, allows MCG's School of Nursing to partner with the nursing schools at Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) and Macon State College to expand the clinical nurse leader program.
           

MCG's master's-level, 16-month clinical nurse leader program is the first its kind in Georgia and fourth in the Southeast. It aims to reduce the nursing shortage by offering advanced degrees to those with non-nursing backgrounds, so students with a baccalaureate or higher degree in a non-nursing field can obtain a master's degree in nursing at an accelerated pace.
           

"We anticipate admitting eight clinical nurse leader students to each of these campuses as early as fall 2009," said School of Nursing Dean Lucy N. Marion. "This gift is clearly testimony to the strength of our clinical nurse leader program leadership, our entire enterprise and the quality of our employees and students."
           

“The expansion of this innovative nursing program to GSW assimilates a thoughtful combination of quantity and quality that will help to build a thriving nursing workforce to serve the Southwest region of Georgia, “said Sandra Daniel, Ph.D., School of Nursing Dean.  “In addition to the well established and growing BSN program at GSW, this new partnership will provide an additional nursing education option at the graduate level that will appeal to a new generation of nurses and health care institutions. This partnership exemplifies an increasing trend within the University System of Georgia to work collaboratively to offer cutting edge educational programs such as the CNL program”

The second award is a $250,000 endowment gift to provide scholarships for baccalaureate students in the MCG School of Nursing.

"This endowment gives us an unprecedented opportunity in the School of Nursing," said Dean Marion. "It is the largest undergraduate scholarship amount we have ever received and will undoubtedly aid in recruitment and support of exceptional students, ultimately helping alleviate the nation’s nursing shortage."
           

The Helene Fuld Health Trust is the nation's largest private foundation devoted exclusively to nursing students and nursing education. Visit their website to learn more: www.fuldtrust.org.

For information about the clinical nurse leader program at GSW, contact the School of Nursing at (229) 931-2275.

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