| Subscribe Now |
![]() |
|
| Weather |
Bloomington-Normal, Illinois
|
| Home |
| NewsThursday, August 16, 2007 11:49 PM CDT |
Coordinated area project to tackle nursing shortage
NORMAL — A strong, stable nursing work force for Central Illinois is the goal of a new project that has received local and national grant funding. The Partners in Nursing of Central Illinois project will work on retaining registered nurses in the region, increasing the number of nursing school faculty members and of nursing students, and promoting long-term care nursing as an attractive career path, said Sara Campbell and Myra Gordon. Campbell is interim dean of Mennonite College of Nursing at Illinois State University, and Gordon is acting executive director and vice president of the board of the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation. Mennonite and the foundation are among partners in the project. “In the past, hospitals and nursing homes and schools of nursing approached the nursing shortage separately,” Campbell said. “This recognizes that having nurses for the future is everyone’s concern.” The project is unique because “it’s a regional approach to dealing with the shortage,” Campbell said. “I think it’s going to make a difference.” In addition to Mennonite and the foundation, partners are OSF St. Joseph Medical Center, BroMenn Healthcare, Heritage Enterprises, Memorial Medical Center in Springfield, Meadows Mennonite Retirement Community, McLean County Chamber of Commerce, First Farmers State Bank, Economic Development Council of the Bloomington-Normal Area, Career Link, Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, the town of Normal and Carle Foundation Hospital. The project has received $250,000 in grant funding, over two years, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Northwest Health Foundation to cover the salary for a project coordinator, clerical support, travel expenses and expenses to evaluate the project, Campbell said. The two foundations are focused on improving health, and the project is among 11 nationwide to receive funding for nursing. The regional partners kicked in $230,000 for scholarships and for low-interest loans for nursing students, she said. The partnership already is helping because organizations that usually wouldn’t communicate regularly are working together, Campbell said. “We like to take on projects that address needs in the community,” Gordon said of the foundation, which manages charitable funds and awards grants to support organizations in McLean, Livingston and DeWitt counties. “And we’re going to need more nurses.” |
|
||||||
|
![]() ![]() |
|
Top of Page | Home | News | Sports | Free Time | Life | Money | Nation/World | Opinion | Blogs/Columns | Archives | Site Map | RSS
Copyright © 2009, Pantagraph Publishing Co. and Lee Enterprises. All rights reserved. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
|