Utah: 1 million donated for U. nursing center

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

The Emma Eccles Jones Foundation has donated $1 million to the University of Utah to support a nursing research center.

The center will be located in renovated space on the fifth floor of the nursing college's building. Graduate study, faculty preparation and clinical nursing research all will be facilitated by the presence of the center. There is a growing demand in Utah for nursing faculty, nurse educators and advanced-practice nurses, said Maureen R. Keefe, dean of the college and Louis H. Peery Presidential Endowed Chair professor.

Utah currently is third in the nation in the severity of its nurse shortage, said Keefe. "Each year, a large pool of well-qualified prospective students applies to nursing programs throughout the state, but inadequate numbers of nursing faculty limit our ability to prepare more nurses to respond to this critical shortage in health-care providers."

U. nursing researchers are studying health issues that affect all ages of people. Topics include cancer screening and prevention, care-giving and family support needs, symptom and pain management, aging and end-of-life care issues, neonatal care and physiologic stability and management of infant irritability or colic.

The U. college ranks 26th in the country among nursing schools in research funding and training supplied by the National Institutes of Health.

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,405018198,00.html