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February 5, 2008
Marquette General Hospital included in $1 million grant that offers distance-learning graduate programs for RNs in neonatal and pediatric care
Under a three-year $995,000 federal training grant awarded to the Wayne State University College of Nursing, registered nurses for Marquette General Hospital will be able access graduate programs leading to the degree of nurse practitioner in the specialties of pediatrics and neonatal nursing.
Courses will be offered through a variety of state-of-the art distance learning techniques, including podcasting, teleconferencing, video streaming, online discussions and onsite intensive learning sessions. Most of the course work can be completed without leaving Marquette.
“This grant allows Marquette General nurses to pursue their graduate education in a way that makes it possible for them to stay in Marquette and continue working as a nurse,” said Connie Koutouzos, program director for the MGH Women’s and Children’s Center.
The grant was awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration to offer Wayne State’s neonatal and pediatric nurse practitioner programs to nurses across the State of Michigan. This grant will allow WSU to develop a much-needed pediatric acute/critical care nurse practitioner program to complement its well-established primary care pediatric NP and neonatal NP programs.
“In Michigan we have only about one-third the number of nurse practitioners we need,” said Dr. Linda Lewandowski, WSU College of Nursing’s assistant dean for Family, Community and Mental Health, and program director for the grant. “We thus feel the responsibility to help address the health care needs of Michigan’s infants and children with chronic and/or serious illnesses.”
Michigan ranks first in the nation in the incidence of preventable chronic disease, and the State’s infant mortality rate continues higher than the national average. Because Michigan has been disproportionately affected by high unemployment and a struggling economy, access to preventive health care and early intervention is not available to all children. This grant will help address workforce as well as health care needs with a focus on providing culturally sensitive, family-centered care to infants and children with complex health care needs, many of whom live in medically underserved areas that will be targeted by these programs.
Other healthcare facilities that are included in the grant are Grand Rapids De Vos Children’s and Saginaw Covenant Hospital. In addition to an already existing partnership with Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, other distance learning sites may be added at a later time.
For more information please contact Robert Hellar at the WSU Office of Student Affairs by calling (313) 577-4199 or toll-free at (888) 837-0847, or via e-mail at ac4659@wayne.edu.
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