Salinas Californian Looks at Nurse-Training Grants
The Salinas Californian on Monday examined the statewide campaign to "tackl[e] the toughest obstacles to expanded nursing training" through a $43 million grant for faculty and clinical training opportunities. Grants to institutions must be matched by colleges, hospitals and other community groups.
The funding is intended to recruit more nursing students, increase loan forgiveness for nurses who receive master's degrees in nursing and teaching and for the purchase of equipment for training purposes.
However, the Californian reports that "[w]hatever the number of nurses and dollars, there's no claim the latest initiative will cover all nursing needs." For example, "it's hard to recruit" nurses to be teachers with "new nurses making perhaps $72,000 a year versus $53,000 for their teachers," according to the Californian (Henshaw, Salinas Californian, 11/7).