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Partners in Nursing
The Midland Area Community Foundation has recently been
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| The first Practice Scholars to go through the program.
Pictured from left to right: Valeriah Ann Holmon, Amy Couture, Jennifer Swartz, Susan Baumann and Amy Wegener. Not pictured: Margaret Brookhouse, Hall Hewett, Colette Smith |
Led by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Northwest Health Foundation, the program encourages local foundations to act as catalysts in developing grassroots strategies to establish a stable, adequate nursing workforce. The 11 grants being awarded this year represent the involvement of 27 local foundations, and a multitude of other funding sources. These foundations, some for the first time, have forged partnerships in their communities to apply for this grant, giving increased attention to the nursing shortage in their local areas.
To help develop solutions and lead efforts within the region, the Midland Area Community Foundation, The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation, Bay Area Community Foundation and the Saginaw Community Foundation are partnering with many local education and medical organizations.
Delta College, Mid-Michigan Community College, Saginaw Valley State University's Crystal M. Lang College of Nursing and Health Services, and Kirtland College have joined the effort along with MidMichigan Health, Bay Regional Medical Center, St. Mary's of Michigan and Covenant Health Care to address the issue of nursing shortages in Mid-Michigan.
"This is a great example of how local foundations, higher education and health care organizations can all come together in a collaborative effort to address one common problem and provide a local solution." says Jan McGuire, President and CEO of the Midland Area Community Foundation “We are grateful to the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation for their support in the form of a matching grant which assisted us in securing this funding to work collaboratively to solve a local problem. Our partners in this project bring so much to the table and provide the project with a meaningful and wide-ranging perspective. This group of people and organizations will provide solutions to the nursing shortages in Mid-Michigan."
Partners Investing in Nursing's Future is now in its second year of a five-year, $10 million initiative. During the program's first year beginning in the fall of 2006, the 10 initial foundation partners established more than 140 partnerships between nursing organizations and local foundations to address the nursing shortage.
"The stability and quality of our nation's health care rely heavily on a sufficient supply of appropriately educated and skilled nurses, "said Susan B. Hassmiller, R.N., Ph.D., F.A.A.N., senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "While the nursing shortage is a national issue, community-based interventions are necessary to finding solutions that work in different health care environments. This unique program was designed to bring regional philanthropies together to address the nursing shortage on a community-level, fostering innovations beyond what any one foundation can do alone."
Experts say the causes of the nursing shortage are complex and range from rapid population growth in several states, to an aging nurse workforce in other states. In the Mid-Michigan area, one primary reason for the nursing shortage is a lack of instructors. Nursing students often exceed the number of courses offered and there are simply not enough staff to teach more courses. The Midland Area Community Foundation's Partners Investing in Nursing's Future initiative intends to change that.
"Because all health care is local, solutions need to be tailored to meet the needs of the individual communities these nurses serve," said Judith Woodruff, J.D., program director of the Northwest Health Foundation and Partners Investing in Nursing's Future. "We are pleased to offer this grant to the Midland Area Community Foundation and it's partners which are well-qualified to explore solutions for the people of Midland, Bay, and Saginaw counties as well as surrounding areas. Not only do we believe that the Midland Area Community Foundation and its partners will make significant improvements in the Mid-Michigan region, but we believe that the other 20 projects can exchange ideas and benefit from the work of The Midland Area Community Foundation and it's partners."
Information about the nation-wide initiative: Partners Investing in Nursing's Future is available at www.PartnersInNursing.org.