The John A. Hartford Foundation Awards $1.8 Million Grant
to AACN to Support Careers in Geriatric Nursing

WASHINGTON, DC, April 28, 2004 - The John A. Hartford Foundation of New York awarded new grant funding to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) to extend the successful Creating Careers in Geriatric Advanced Practice Nursing program. The $1.8 million award will enable graduate nursing programs nationwide to prepare more advanced practice nurses who specialize in geriatric nursing care.

"AACN applauds the nursing advocates at the Hartford Foundation for their ongoing commitment to improving the quality of care available to older adults," said AACN President Jean E. Bartels. "By supporting the development of nurses with expertise in geriatric care, nursing colleges and universities will be able to expand their programs and inject a larger number of master's degree-prepared nurses into the health care workforce."

The need for geriatric advanced practice nurses (APNs) is growing, but the number of students pursuing this specialty has not kept pace with the demand. To compound the issue, the distribution of geriatric APNs varies greatly across regions and health care settings. In response to this gap, AACN and The John A. Hartford Foundation launched the Creating Careers in Geriatric Advanced Practice Nursing program in 2001. Through this initiative, AACN provides funding to schools of nursing with geriatric APN programs to expand their student base. In addition to eliminating financial barriers to education, the project also facilitates networking, mentorship, role modeling, and leadership activities between scholarship awardees and experts in geriatric nursing. Stronger links between students and clinical leaders are helping to solidify the role of the geriatric APN and attract new students to the field.

To date, schools of nursing have awarded competitive scholarship funds to over 160 students at 23 institutions nationwide, including:

On April 21, 2004, AACN issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to begin the process of distributing the new grant funds to schools of nursing. Three-year awards will be provided to schools with geriatric advanced practice nursing programs, including traditional master's degrees, accelerated RN to master's degree programs, master's degrees for non-nursing college graduates, and post-master's certificate tracks. Up to $17,000 will be awarded per year per student to cover one half the tuition and documented academic fees. Schools must provide 1-to-1 matching funds. The annual number of scholarship students can vary in each school. Schools must demonstrate that funds will be used to increase enrollment in geriatric nursing programs; show how recruitment efforts will target under-represented groups in APN programs; and describe how leadership development is built into their geriatric APN programs.

Schools seeking grant funds must submit a proposal by 5:00 pm EDT on June 15, 2004. The RFP is posted on the AACN Web site at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Education/Hartford/RFP404.pdf. For more information, contact Deirdre Thornlow, AACN's Director of Gerontology Projects, at dthornlow@aacn.nche.edu.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing is the national voice for university and four-year-college education programs in nursing. Representing more than 580 member schools of nursing at public and private institutions nationwide, AACN's educational, research, governmental advocacy, data collection, publications, and other programs work to establish quality standards for bachelor's- and graduate-degree nursing education, assist deans and directors to implement those standards, influence the nursing profession to improve health care, and promote public support of baccalaureate and graduate nursing education, research, and practice. Web site: http://www.aacn.nche.edu

The John A. Hartford Foundation, Inc. of New York is a private philanthropy established in 1929 by John A. Hartford. Mr. Hartford and his brother, George L. Hartford, both former chief executives of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, left the bulk of their estates to the Foundation upon their deaths in the 1950s. Prior to 1979, the Foundation primarily supported clinically-oriented biomedical research projects. Subsequently, it focused its support on improving the quality and financing of health care and enhancing the capacity of the health care system to accommodate the nation’s growing elderly population. Since 1995 the Foundation has focused extensively on enhancing the nation’s capacity to provide effective and affordable care to its growing older adult population through grantmaking related to enhancing geriatric research and training (physicians, nurses, social workers), and integrating and improving health services for older adults.