VCU news

By Malorie Burkett

RICHMOND, Va. (April 18, 2006) — A new federal grant is making it possible for the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing to specifically recruit Hispanic and Spanish-speaking nurses and current public health nurses for its weekend program.

The “R.N. to B.S. Completion Program,” or weekend program, which has been in existence since 1989, allows registered nurses without bachelor’s degrees to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing in three semesters.

Employers indicate a significant unfilled demand for Spanish-speaking nurses in Richmond and Central Virginia. Hospitals, clinics, private medical offices and public health departments often give hiring preferences to bilingual nurses. 

The grant, from the Health Resources and Service Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services, enables the school to specifically target Hispanic and Spanish-speaking nursing candidates.

“By increasing the number of baccalaureate nursing graduates who are Spanish-speaking or of Hispanic origin in the metropolitan Richmond area, we will better meet the health needs of the growing Hispanic community,” said Martha Moon, Ph.D., associate professor in the VCU School of Nursing.

With the new grant, the VCU School of Nursing seeks to increase the recruitment, retention and graduation of Hispanic and Spanish-speaking nurses, with particular attention to working with community colleges to encourage their associate degree graduates to enter the R.N. to B.S. Completion Program at VCU.

“This career ladder initiative promotes career advancement for associate degree and diploma-prepared nurses by offering baccalaureate preparation,” said Moon, who also is spearheading the project. “The program also will help promote retention of nurses by augmenting skills for their current roles and helping them acquire skills, knowledge and abilities for assuming new or expanded roles and responsibilities.”

The weekend program offers courses for students in various areas in Virginia, including Tidewater, Danville and Richmond, in addition to online classes. Students already working full-time during the week will be able to attend the weekend classes held one weekend per month.

Bureau of Labor statistics indicate that the United States will need 1 million new nurses to meet the escalating demands of the aging population. Virginia will need 22,000 new nurses. Current projections are that without increases in enrollments in nursing education programs, one in three patients in the state will not have a nurse to care for them by the year 2020.

The application deadline for the weekend program is June 1. For more information, call 804.828.1336.