Miami Dade College has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Health Foundation of South Florida to help address a national nursing shortage.
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 194,500 openings for registered nurses are expected every year during the next decade.
The grant will be used for scholarships, books, exam reviews and to pay for students to attain certifications in areas like electrocardiography. It will also cover a three-day nursing boot camp for this fall’s incoming class and to perform a review for students in the cohort before they graduate.
“For our nursing students, it’s an opportunity to make sure that they receive the resources they need for success,” said Tommie Norris, the dean of the School of Nursing at Medical Campus.
The College, which hopes to grow its nursing program by 40 percent in the next three years, must use the funding in the next 18 months. Nearly 350 nursing students participated in the school’s Pinning Ceremony held at Kendall Campus in April.
The Benjamín León School of Nursing, which offers associate and baccalaureate degree programs, has locations at Medical and Homestead campuses. North Campus held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for new certified nursing assistant laboratories on March 14.
To keep up with the program’s growth, Medical Campus plans to hire five to seven additional faculty members this fall, according to the Campus’ president Bryan Stewart. Another portion of the grant funding will be used for guest lecturers and to help students with financial hardships.
“[Students] have so much potential and possibility but that extra push—those resources, [like] tutoring, having grants for textbooks and NCLEX review—will take it to a whole new level,” said Anna Johnson, a nursing student at Homestead Campus who was crowned Miss MDC Homestead. “So my heart is overfilled with joy.”
Discussions to award MDC the $500,000 grant began last December. The proposal was approved by the Health Foundation of South Florida’s board in March.
“I think it’s going to be a really rewarding grant and one of the most unique,” Stewart said.
