TRENTON — Nurses pursuing advanced degrees will have access to a virtual tutoring program paid for by private funds and provided to nursing schools throughout the state, the Horizon Foundation of New Jersey said today. Horizon was one of nine endowments in the country to receive funding from Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future, a private initiative created to address...
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William Marino, board chairman of the Horizon Foundation, in this file photo. TRENTON — Nurses pursuing advanced degrees will have access to a virtual tutoring program paid for by private funds and provided to nursing schools throughout the state, the Horizon Foundation of New Jersey said today.
Horizon was one of nine endowments in the country to receive funding from Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future, a private initiative created to address the national nursing shortage and support the profession.
Horizon will receive a $245,000 grant from the initiative, matched by a total of $300,000 in contributions from its own coffers, the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey, Johnson & Johnson, the Edward W. and Stella C. Van Houten Memorial Fund and the Verizon Foundation.
The money will be used to create the Nursing Academic Resource Center, run by the New Jersey Nursing Initiative of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Beginning this month, the center will oversee electronic tutorial programs in reading, writing, researching and comprehension skills to help nurses pursuing graduate degrees, the foundation said.
Only 356 nurses completed master’s degrees and 21 completed doctor of nursing practice degrees in 2008, according to a statement from the foundation.
"We know that the overall number of nurses in the U.S. is growing, but there are many issues that need to be addressed in order to create the nursing workforce we need for the future," said Judith Woodruff, director of workforce development at the Northwest Health Foundation, which formed the partners group with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
"Highly skilled nurses are critical for New Jersey’s health care system as our diverse population continues to age and is confronted with the high incidence of chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes, and obesity," said William J. Marino, the Horizon foundation’s board chairman.
