BALTIMORE, Maryland – (December 18, 2018) – The Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) Secretary, Dr. James D. Fielder, announced that $470,000 was awarded to sixteen Maryland nursing faculty members in an ongoing effort to increase the number of State nurse faculty with a doctoral degree.
Sixteen nursing faculty, employed at eight nursing programs across the State, were awarded Nurse Educator Doctoral Grants for Practice and Dissertation Research (NEDG). The recipients awards are between $20,000- $30,000 to expedite the completion of their terminal degree and reduce existing student loans.
“Each one of these $470,000 dollars is an investment in our economy and in the future of our healthcare system,” Secretary Fielder said. “Maryland has been successful in meeting the needs of nurses and nursing faculty for decades and we continue to respond to the need for not only more nurses, but highly trained and educated nurses to become the faculty of the future.”
While 13 percent of nurses hold a graduate degree, less than 1 percent have a doctoral degree. Nurses with doctorates are needed to teach future generations of nurses and to conduct research that becomes the basis for improvements in nursing science and practice. Research is showing a critical need for an increase in highly educated nurses and an improved education system to address the nursing shortage expected to impact the state by 2025 through implementation of the following goals:
· Increase the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80 percent by 2020;
· Double the number of nurses with a doctorate by 2020;
· Ensure that nurses engage in lifelong learning; and
· Build an infrastructure for the collection and analysis of inter-professional data.
The Deans and Directors of Nursing Programs at five Maryland universities and three community colleges recognized and nominated nurse faculty for these awards. The institutions include:
· Morgan State University
· Notre Dame of Maryland University
· Salisbury University
· Towson University
· University of Maryland, Baltimore
· Community College of Baltimore County
· Prince George’s Community College
· Wor-Wic Community College
This is an annual process instituted in 2012, with new nominations due every September. The findings of the most recent program evaluation indicate 89 percent of the NEDG recipients remain employed full time at a Maryland nursing program.
The Fiscal Year 2019 Nurse Support Program II (NSP II) Nurse Educator Doctoral Grants for Practice and Dissertation Research are administered by MHEC. The grants were approved for funding by MHEC, as the administrator for the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC). The Nurse Support Program is funded by HSCRC and administered by MHEC. Over the years, the Nurse Support Program, both NSP I and NSP II (originally Nurse Education Support Program) has been expanded to encourage new and innovative approaches to address the challenges and demands facing nursing.
