The MSN degree will have a family nurse practitioner track (MSN-FNP).
The grant includes $200,000 in start-up funds and $1.2 million in scholarship/loan support over five years for students in the program, according to Marty Morrison, director of Media & Public Relations at UMW. The curriculum is targeted to registered nurses with a bachelor’s degree in nursing, who can continue working part time at Mary Washington Healthcare (MWHC).
Classes are expected to begin January 2019, following approval by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The program, which takes 27 months to complete, will enroll 15 students each year.
“The program will have a significant impact on the primary care shortage in the community,” said Eileen L. Dohmann, chief nursing officer for MWHC. She approached UMW about starting the program.
A recent physician development plan conducted by MWHC identified a shortage of between 30 and 60 primary care physicians in the Fredericksburg area over the next five years, Dohmann said.
UMW’s MSN degree initiative will produce about 75 family nurse practitioners from the first five classes.
The scholarship/loan award would cover about half of the program’s financial-aid expenses, Dohmann said. The grant allows the loan to be forgiven for those students who work for three years as a family nurse practitioner in the Fredericksburg community.
