AMERICUS—Georgia is desperately in need of nurses. With aid from a $29,978 grant awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) School of Nursing will offset the state’s nursing shortage.

            Funds will promote diversity among health professions students by providing scholarships to full-time, financially needy students from disadvantaged backgrounds enrolled in the nursing program at Georgia Southwestern, and the grant is designated specifically for the 2009-2010 academic year according to GSW School of Nursing Chair and Charles L. Mix Eminent Scholar Leisa Easom, PhD, RN, who is serving as the project director of the grant.

            "This grant funding will enable the School of Nursing at GSW to address the nursing shortage through financial support of students who are interested in the nursing profession,” said Easom. “The School of Nursing is committed to training a culturally competent health workforce that can adapt to the population's changing health care needs and provide the highest quality of care for all."

            The grant was made to the School of Nursing through a collaborative effort by Easom, Rosalynn Carter Institute (RCI) Executive Director Rick Birkel and former Director of Financial Aid Freida Jones. It is awarded only one year after GSW and the RCI were granted a HRSA grant worth $763,914.

            An agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the mission of HRSA is to provide national leadership, program resources and services needed to improve access to culturally competent, quality health care.

            For information about this program or the Georgia Southwestern School of Nursing, call (229) 931-2275.

 - GSW -