Nursing Receives Funds from Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare

The School of Nursing will be able to fund the scholarship of four of its doctoral nursing students in 2016 and 2017 thanks to a $40,000-grant from the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare.

The grant—which will run from June 1, 2016, through July 31, 2018—will enable the School of Nursing to provide a $10,000 scholarship (over two years) to one Ph.D. Jonas Nurse Leader Scholar, two Ph.D. Jonas Veterans Healthcare Scholars and one DNP Jonas Veterans Health Scholar. In addition, the Ph.D. Nurse Leader Scholar will receive an additional $10,000 in matching funds from the University.

“We are proud to be part of a national effort to prepare the next generation of nurse faculty leaders, which is critical as we face a national nursing shortage,” said Dr. Melissa Kalarchian, associate dean for research in the nursing school. “Our newest cohort of scholars will be announced in June. They will focus on key health care priorities including veterans’ care.”

The Jonas Scholars at the School of Nursing will join more than 1,000 future nurse educators and leaders at 140 universities across all 50 states supported by Jonas Center programs, the Jonas Nurse Leaders Scholars Program and the Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program (JVHP). These scholarships support nurses pursuing Ph.D.s and DNPs, the terminal degrees in the field.

The School of Nursing received a $30,000 grant from the Jonas Center in 2014-2016 and allocated the funds to three of its doctoral students: Emerson Ea, Salena Wright-Brown and Sara Jennings.

Wright-Brown, who is the school’s current Ph.D. Jonas Veterans Healthcare Scholar, is a nurse and associate director of patient care services at the Department of Veterans Affairs for the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks in Fayetteville, Ark.

“The support from the Jonas Scholars program has made it possible for me to improve service to veterans and the nursing staff who care for them,” she said. “My work toward a doctorate degree from Duquesne with a focus on the effects of violence and prevention of violence in emergency departments has been very rewarding. It has been my honor and privilege to serve our nation’s heroes and to be a Jonas Veterans Health Scholar.”