Little Rock - The UAMS College of Nursing will lead an innovative effort to raise the number of college-educated geriatrics nurses in Arkansas nursing homes, thanks to $250,000 awarded by the national Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future program to a collaboration led by the Arkansas Community Foundation.

ARCF is one of 10 foundations nationwide to receive funding this year from PIN, a national initiative to help address the long-term shortage of nurses across the country. PIN is led by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Northwest Health Foundation.

The two-year, $250,000 grant will be matched by several Arkansas sources, including the Arkansas State Board of Nursing and the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care. The goal is to raise $250,000 locally, and ARCF has committed to assist in the long-term sustainability of the program by working to secure future, stable sources of funding.

Money raised will support efforts to unify the state’s fragmented geriatrics nursing education system and draw certified nursing assistants and licensed practical nurses working in geriatric long-term care into college nursing degree programs.

In Arkansas, the bulk of the funds will go to the UAMS College of Nursing, which will work in partnership with ARCF, the Arkansas State Board of Nursing, the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, and the Arkansas Health Care Association. Leaders from each partner organization will form an executive committee that is charged with developing the plan for a geriatrics nursing education pathway and to do a pilot test of their plan.

“Arkansas Community Foundation has a long history of support for aspiring nurses, and the PIN Partners grant now allows us to take a more systematic approach to our state’s nursing shortage,” said ARCF President and CEO Heather Larkin Eason. “We’re pleased to collaborate with our partnering agencies to create an educational pathway for nurses that will address the needs of Arkansas’s aging population.”

The percentage of people age 65 and older in Arkansas already is higher than the national average, and only six other states have higher levels of poverty than Arkansas. With the baby boomers retiring (including retiring nurses), by 2025, 24% of Arkansans will be 65 or older.

Nationally, the shortage of registered nurses is expected to reach 29% by 2020. Add to that the fact that of the 2.56 million registered nurses in the U.S., fewer than 15,000 are certified gerontological nurses.

“Nursing homes in Arkansas already are in great need of nurses with baccalaureate degrees and geriatrics expertise. Without significant effort, we risk neglecting a generation of seniors who will need those specially trained nurses,” said UAMS’ Claudia Beverly, Ph.D., R.N., who will oversee the project. “That’s why I am so excited about this grant. We have an opportunity to really strengthen the quality of care and quality of life in nursing homes through a better prepared geriatrics nurse work force.”

The Arkansas initiative will target licensed practical nurses and certified nursing assistants who are working in nursing homes. Through strong health care and education partnerships and strong mentoring support, Beverly said many of these caregivers will achieve higher education degrees.

“There are people out there who will go back to school and become a registered nurse if they just have a little bit of help,” said Beverly, who also directs the UAMS Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence and the Arkansas Aging Initiative, a program of the UAMS Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging that includes eight Centers on Aging across Arkansas.

Eason said that as a result of today’s PIN announcement, Arkansas Community Foundation will pursue a philanthropic commitment to geriatrics and long-term care nursing support in Arkansas.

“Simply stated, the funds from PIN will not only bring the project into being, but will also launch a sustainable program for the future,” Eason said.

The 2009 PIN grant cycle marks the fourth year of funding, totaling more than $10 million of investment by the PIN program in local partnerships. In addition, Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future has leveraged more than $8 million in local and regional funding, ensuring the long-term viability of the projects.

“Nurses are the nation’s most direct link to patient safety and quality of care. We are committed to helping find the most innovative solutions to the nursing shortage so we can protect patients now and over the long term,” said Susan B. Hassmiller, Ph.D., R.N., senior adviser for nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “This unique partnership of the philanthropic community helps identify new approaches that go well beyond what any one foundation could do alone.”

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