Program Provides Nursing Student Scholarships, Nursing Faculty

Fellowships and Grants to New Jersey Nursing Schools to Expand

Their Program Capacity

    NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- With mounting evidence that
 an unprecedented shortage of nursing professionals threatens the quality of
 health care in the state, a coalition of New Jersey hospitals and nursing
 organizations and The Campaign for Nursing's Future, sponsored by Johnson &
 Johnson, are taking action to attract more area residents to the nursing
 profession.
     At a major event today, a coalition of 19 area hospitals, health care
 institutions and nursing organizations joined with Johnson & Johnson to
 celebrate The Promise of Nursing for New Jersey, an ambitious, privately
 financed campaign benefiting area residents who wish to enter the nursing
 profession or to become nursing educators. The program is expected to raise
 more than $550,000 to fund scholarships, fellowships and grants for New Jersey
 area residents.
     The urgent need for this statewide nursing initiative is confirmed by
 federal government forecasts, which project that by 2020, the state could face
 a nursing shortfall of 43%. According to the Health Resources and Services
 Administration (HRSA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
 Services (HHS), New Jersey is currently experiencing a 13% vacancy rate of
 nurses at state health facilities.
     "Recent statistics on the shortage of nurses in New Jersey paints a grim
 picture for the state's healthcare facilities," said Gary Carter, president
 and CEO of New Jersey Hospital Association.  "This privately financed nursing
 campaign is a critical component of what is taking place in New Jersey to
 ensure the future of the state's nursing workforce."
     Providing a further perspective on the statewide nursing shortage, George
 Lynn, CEO of AtlantiCare, said: "New Jersey health care facilities are facing
 an immediate and long-term shortage of nurses.  An estimated 50% of the
 state's practicing nurses will be eligible for retirement within the next 10
 years, and, at the same time residents are getting older and are in need of
 greater levels of medical attention.  That's why we need new programs like
 this campaign that will attract more people to nursing now so our hospitals
 will be prepared to deliver quality health care in the future."
     The Promise of Nursing for New Jersey represents a major effort by local
 hospitals, health systems, nursing schools and associations and the entire New
 Jersey health care community to address the acute shortfall of nurses, which
 includes increasing applications and enrollments in state schools of nursing
 and also recruiting new faculty to teach these students. On a national level,
 a new report issued by Johnson & Johnson finds that 84% of nursing schools
 have experienced an increase in applications and enrollments because of new
 recruitment efforts. Through this new scholarship, the coalition hopes to
 mirror this national success at the state level.
     "Nursing is a profession rich in tradition and over the years has evolved
 to offer a wide variety of career opportunities in every aspect of health
 care, however, more education is needed about the resources that are available
 for students so they will be better informed about this dynamic and rewarding
 profession," said Donna Delicio, R.N., Chief Nursing Officer, Somerset Medical
 Center.  "This scholarship program is one important way that the nursing
 profession can attract and train nurses for the future."
     To finance the regional scholarship and grant program, the coalition has
 organized a fundraising gala that will take place at the Hilton East Brunswick
 in East Brunswick.  Underwritten in total by Johnson & Johnson, The Promise of
 Nursing for New Jersey Gala will be attended by more than 700 members of the
 regional business and health care community as well as area political leaders.
     Because New Jersey's nursing shortage mirrors a national shortfall of
 nurses now estimated at 126,000 in hospitals alone, Johnson & Johnson has
 already hosted similar fundraising galas in six states and plans to sponsor at
 least four additional regional drives during 2003 to raise scholarship funds
 for local nursing scholarships. More than $3 million has been raised to date
 through these The Promise of Nursing events.
     "Throughout Johnson & Johnson's history, we have always supported the
 nursing profession as a vital component of quality health care," said James T.
 Lenehan, Vice Chairman of the Board and President, Johnson & Johnson.  "We
 consider nurses the essence of caring and believe it is critical to help
 resolve the deepening nursing shortage, at the national level by assisting in
 the communities across the country where the impact is especially acute."  The
 Promise of Nursing for New Jersey Gala is part of a nationwide nursing
 recruitment campaign -- The Campaign for Nursing's Future -- launched by
 Johnson & Johnson in February of 2002.  In addition to the scholarship
 fundraising efforts, the Company's campaign entails national advertising, the
 free distribution of over 3 million pieces of recruitment materials (to date),
 and a comprehensive Web site (www.discovernursing.com) with a searchable
 database for nursing schools and more than 300 nursing scholarship programs.
 Johnson & Johnson has committed more than $25 million to this very important
 initiative.
     Because of efforts like The Campaign for Nursing's Future, indicators are
 beginning to show that more young adults and second career seekers are
 rediscovering nursing as a rewarding career. According to the American
 Association of Colleges of Nursing, baccalaureate nursing school enrollments
 increased by more than 8% between 2001 and 2002. At the same time, the latest
 Post-Secondary Planning Survey published by the National Research Center for
 College and University Admissions (NRCCUA) finds that high school sophomores
 and juniors rank nursing as one of their top career choices.
     The organizations that comprise The Promise of Nursing for New Jersey
 Steering Committee are:  AtlantiCare, Atlantic Health System, Capital Health
 System, Hackensack University Medical Center, Hunterdon Medical Center,
 Meridan Health, New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals, New Jersey Hospital
 Association, Newton Memorial Hospital, Robert Wood Johnson University
 Hospital, Saint Barnabas Healthcare System, Saint Peter's University Hospital,
 Shore Memorial Hospital, Solaris Health System, Somerset Medical Center, South
 Jersey Healthcare, The College of New Jersey School of Nursing, The University
 Hospital, Valley Health System, and Virtua Health.
 
     Johnson & Johnson, with approximately 110,300 employees, is the world's
 most comprehensive and broadly based manufacturer of health care products, as
 well as a provider of related services, for the consumer, pharmaceutical, and
 medical device and diagnostic markets.  Johnson & Johnson has more than 200
 operating companies in 54 countries around the world, selling products in more
 than 175 countries.
 
 

SOURCE  Johnson & Johnson