The College of Education and Health Professions Eleanor Mann School of Nursing will receive $2.6 million over the course of four years from the Health Resources & Services Administration to continue the Advanced Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) grant program.
The grant will help expand experiential training partnerships for the nursing school, Community Clinic of Northwest Arkansas and ARcare. One of the main goals of the program is to improve the health of Arkansans by ensuring a sufficient number of highly educated, culturally competent and clinically skilled family nurse practitioners are available to practice.
“For the past six years, the ANEW grant team has worked to develop meaningful academic and clinical partnerships as well as high-quality learning opportunities for family nurse practitioner students who have a desire to work in rural and underserved areas,” said Marilou Shreve, an associate professor of nursing and the ANEW grant project director. “This grant renewal will offer additional students financial support so they can work less and focus more on their education.”
The grant has provided 21 students with more than $700,000 to help pay for tuition, university fees, books and living expenses over the last four years. Thirteen ANEW grant students have graduated from the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing with their Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) and Family Nurse Practitioner (F.N.P.) degrees, and 10 of those students have gone on to practice in underserved or rural settings throughout Arkansas.
Graduate students pursuing their Doctor of Nursing Practice as family nurse practitioners and have a desire to practice in rural or underserved communities in Arkansas make great candidates for the ANEW grant. Students chosen to participate may receive up to $25,000 per year in financial funding along with mentoring, assistance with site placement and additional education through hands-on workshops and courses specific to caring for rural and underserved populations.
Applications for the ANEW grant are sent to students during their first summer of course work, and students receive notification of the funding opportunity each year after. Visit the nursing website for a list of eligibility requirements and more information about ANEW.
This article also was published Oct. 12, 2023, in University of Arkansas News as “ANEW-RENEW Grant Project Seeks to Enhance Nursing Education and Practice for Students.”