Oct 1 2009
A $2 million grant from UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) will help fund California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) Department of Nursing’s “Expanding Healthcare Access through Nursing” project.
The grant will help fund the five-year, $3.5 million project aimed at boosting the number of yearly graduates from the CSUF nursing program and providing more highly educated nurses for underserved and low-income communities. In addition, the CSUF nursing program has officially named its state-of-the-art, high-tech nursing training facility the UnitedHealthcare Nursing Skills Lab.
As large numbers of baby boomers are aging and requiring more care, the need for well-educated nurses will continue to increase. The projected shortage of qualified nurses will have staggering consequences, threatening overall patient care.
Despite this shortage, funding challenges preclude admission of qualified candidates to existing nursing programs. In 2007, U.S. nursing schools turned away more than 40,000 qualified applicants, and in California more than 55 percent of qualified applications to pre-licensure programs were denied. At CSUF, 1,300 students applied last year to its new pre-nursing program in hopes of being admitted to one of the only 46 available spaces in the entry-level Bachelor of Science in nursing degree program.
Over the next five years, CSUF’s “Expanding Healthcare Access through Nursing” project is designed to increase CSUF’s nursing program capacity. Currently funded by the state to enroll a total of 80 students in the new entry-level pathway to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) programs, the expansion project will increase capacity by 150 percent, to 200 students.
Historically, more than 80 percent of CSUF graduates settle within a 50-mile radius of the university, so this investment in the CSUF nursing program is expected to have a positive impact on the region. CSUF graduates are also expected to join health care providers serving low-income and underserved communities, leading to more accessible and higher quality of care for at-risk populations.
“This generous grant from UnitedHealth Group will increase the number of baccalaureate nurses Cal State Fullerton is able to enroll, train, graduate and place in the community over the next five years,” said Milton A. Gordon, president of California State University, Fullerton. “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.
“Donations like the one we are celebrating today are essential to our program’s ongoing operation and expansion,” Gordon added. “We are most grateful to UnitedHealth Group for its support of our nursing program, and pledge our continuing efforts to educate nurse professionals.”
“This important project will help increase the number of highly skilled nurses in California,” said Steve Nelson, CEO, Western Region of UnitedHealthcare. “Quality nursing care makes a tremendous difference in the health care received by patients. Our sponsorship of this project is part of our commitment to the nursing profession and our long-term partnership with CSUF’s Department of Nursing.”
http://www.unitedhealthgroup.com
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