Nursing Students Awarded Jonas Philanthropies Grant
UArizona College of Nursing has received a new $30,000 grant to support students in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program.
Carrie Ann Langley, PhD, MPH, RN, and DNP student, College of Nursing (left), and Zhanette Coffee, MSN, FNP-C, APRN, BSN, RN, PHN, and second-year PhD student, College of Nursing.
The University of Arizona College of Nursing has been awarded a new grant of $30,000 from Jonas Philanthropies, a leading national philanthropic funder of graduate nursing education. Matched by $30,000 from the college, the grant will fund the scholarship of two doctoral nursing students in 2021.
The new Jonas Scholar grant for the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program will support the research and practice of two College of Nursing students who focus on psychology and mental health: Carrie Ann Langley, PhD, MPH, RN, and DNP student, and Zhanette Coffee, MSN, FNP-C, APRN, BSN, RN, PHN, and second-year PhD student.
“I am so grateful to receive the Jonas Scholar award,” said Dr. Langley. “This scholarship will allow me to complete the PMHNP-DNP program, where I plan to continue my research focus with individuals who experience mental illness who also are transitioning from jail to the rural community, developing an educational intervention to improve the support provided through the transition process.”
Coffee, who plans to investigate integrative health approaches to manage patients with chronic pain and opioid use disorders, said, “The Jonas Scholars grant will expand my potential to develop into a productive and independent nursing scientist. In addition, this opportunity will support my passion in becoming an agent of change in research, focusing on the whole-person well-being and healthier lifestyle behaviors through substance prevention utilizing integrative health approaches.”
As a grant recipient, the College of Nursing joins Jonas Philanthropies’ efforts to improve the quality of health care by investing in nursing scholars whose research and clinical foci specifically address our nation’s most urgent needs. The grant will empower and support nursing students with financial assistance, leadership development and networking to expand the pipeline of future nursing faculty, researchers and advanced practice nurses. The Jonas Scholars at the College of Nursing is made possible by a grant from Jonas Nursing and Veterans Healthcare.
With 10,000 Americans turning 65 each day, an entire generation of the health care workforce is aging at a rapid pace. This, coupled with care for the 22.2 million veterans living across the country, means the United States is facing a dire need for a new era of highly educated nursing professionals. The College of Nursing and Jonas Philanthropies believe the investment in the education of nurse leaders is critically important to improve the health care system.
“The award will enhance the students’ educational trajectories as they complete their doctoral degrees in the DNP and PhD College of Nursing programs and propel them forward as future nursing leaders,” said Allen Prettyman, PhD, FNP-BC, FAANP, FNAP, director of the DNP program.
The College of Nursing Jonas Nurse Scholars are part of the new 2021-2023 cohort of more than 75 Scholars pursuing PhD, DNP or EdD degrees at 49 universities across the country whose doctoral work will focus on such critical health priorities as Environmental Health, Vision Health, Psych-Mental Health and/or Veterans Health. They join more than 1,000 Jonas Scholar alumni representing 157 universities across all 50 states.