The Mennonite College of Nursing (MCN) at Illinois State University is the recipient of a grant of nearly $700,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support training of nurse practitioners.
The two-year grant, part of the Advanced Education Nursing Traineeship, is geared toward increasing the number of advanced education nurses trained to practice as primary care providers. The funds will be used for graduate students in the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Sequence at the College.
The FNP Sequence prepares students to provide primary care for patients across their lifespan. “Family nurse practitioners generally can take care of about 80 to 85 percent of the types of patients physicians see, freeing the physicians to see the patients with the most complex needs,” said Associate Professor of Nursing Denise Wilson, leader of the FNP Sequence and project director for the grant.
The grant will go toward tuition, fees and stipends for FNP students. There are currently 60 students in the sequence.
“In the past we have received this funding but it was formula based and distributed to most who applied across the country, but the funds were much more limited,” said Mennonite College of Nursing Dean Janet Krejci. “This new process has a more competitive review and the number of grantees was much smaller than previous year. This grant is a huge success for MCN and will greatly benefit our students.”
For additional information on the grant, contact Amy Irving of the Mennonite School of Nursing at (309) 438-7418.
