Loyola University New Orleans School of Nursing has received a nationally competitive grant from the Jonas Nurse Scholar program for 2016-2018.

The Jonas Nurse Scholar program supports doctoral nursing students pursing both PhD and DNP degrees. The goal of the Jonas Nurse Leaders Program is to increase the number of doctorally-prepared faculty available to teach in nursing schools nationwide, as well as the number of advanced practice nurses providing direct patient care. The Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program is a component of the Nurse Scholar Program that aims to increase the number of advanced practice nurses and faculty who are trained specifically in the unique needs of our veteran population.

Supported by the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare (Jonas Center), both programs provide financial assistance, leadership development and networking support to expand the pipeline of future nurse faculty and advanced practice nurses. As part of their scholarship experience, all Jonas Scholar attend the Jonas Nurse Scholar Conference, a three-day event in Washington, DC, designed to convene the current Jonas Scholars for networking, mentoring and educational opportunities with prominent nurse educators, executives and policy experts in the field.

Loyola has been awarded a $20,000 grant to support one DNP Jonas Nurse Leader Scholar and one DNP Jonas Veterans Healthcare Scholar with a $10,000 scholarship each. "We have competed successfully for this scholarship opportunity in the past, and are very excited that we have been chosen again," said School of Nursing Interim Director Patricia Pierce.