NLN Receives Kellogg Foundation Grant to Help Increase Number of African-American RNs Working in Underserved Communities

"Project Success" Focuses on Increasing Graduation Rates and Supporting Nurse Faculty Development at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

National Model to Help Minority Students Pass Licensing Exam on "First Write"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY — June 8, 2011 — As National League for Nursing research and other recent studies have amply demonstrated, health outcomes show significant improvement when the nursing workforce reflects the economic and cultural diversity of the patient population served. It is in that spirit of advancing public health that the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has awarded the NLN a prestigious $150,000 grant to pilot Project Success.

Over the two-year period of the grant, the NLN will develop a model that can expand to a large number of historically black colleges and universities. The comprehensive program will focus on increasing recruitment of minority applicants to nursing programs and on improving graduation rates and providing faculty development in the form of role-playing, workshops, and scholarly writing assignments at participating institutions. HBCU nursing school graduates will be encouraged to take their skills and knowledge into urban and rural communities to provide culturally sensitive care to those who have been traditionally underserved.

In the long term, Project Success will increase the number of African-Americans in the nursing workforce in proportion to the demographic representation of blacks in the population at-large; prepare minority RN candidates to pass national licensure exam (NCLEX©) on their first sitting with scores that match or exceed the national average; and support minority nurse educators with enhanced information that will help them better accommodate diverse student learning styles.

"The NLN anticipates that the Kellogg Foundation grant will have an impact on public health far beyond the initial pilot being developed in Project Success. Ramping up culturally sensitive care to underserved populations means that more minority RNs will be better equipped to engage in preventative health care and educate clients about how to seek attention for health problems before they may become life-threatening or debilitating chronic conditions," noted NLN CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN.

Added Cathleen M. Shultz, PhD, RN, CNE, FAAN, president of the NLN: "The Leagues emphasis on building a strong and diverse nursing workforce to advance the nations health is a key facet of the NLN mission to promote excellence in nursing education. As is made clear by this grant for Project Success, the Kellogg Foundation shares this vision, and the NLN is delighted to acknowledge the foundations support."

For more information about the grant, please contact Jessica Dickson at 212-812-0348 or jdickson@nln.org.

Editors and reporters: For interview opportunities, please contact NLN chief communications officer, Karen R. Klestzick at 212-812-0376 or kklestzick@nln.org.

Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education. The NLN offers faculty development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its 34,000 individual and 1,200 institutional members who represent nursing education programs across the spectrum of higher education.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, established in 1930, supports children, families, and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and southern Africa. For further information, please visit www.wkkf.org.