Dialogue: UM President Donna E. Shalala discusses health care reform. Also contributing to the discussion was as a panel of experts that included, from left, Ann-Lynn Denker, of Jackson Health System; Aubrey L. Florom-Smith, a recent nursing grad; and David Zambrana, chief nursing officer at University of Miami Hospital.

Any serious discussion on health care reform must ultimately address its effect on nursing, a profession currently experiencing a workforce shortage that is expected to worsen as baby boomers age and the need for health care increases.

To that end, the University of Miami’s School of Nursing and Health Studies on Monday held a special dialogue on that topic, examining a broad range of issues—from President Obama’s proposed health care plan to how giving greater responsibilities to advanced practice nurses can help bring relief to a health care system also burdened by a shortage of primary care physicians.

“Nurses are the backbone of the health care system,” Florida Surgeon General Ana M. Viamonte Ros told an audience of mostly nursing students and practicing nurses who attended the discussion, held inside a classroom at UM’s M. Christine Schwartz Center for Nursing and Health Studies.

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El Centro, the University of Miami Center of Excellence for Hispanic Health Disparities Research at the School of Nursing and Health Studies, in collaboration with the FIU CRUSADA (Center for Research on U.S. Latino HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse), presents “Conducting Culturally Competent Research in Drug Abuse and HIV/AIDS.” The seminar will be held on Thursday, October 15 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the UM-Koubek Mansion and Gardens, 2705 SW Third St., Miami. Free breakfast, lunch, and parking. Six CEUs offered. Seating is limited. For registration information, click here. For more information, call Nery Garcia at 305-284-5611 or e-mail [email protected].

The UM School of Nursing and Health Studies presents “Health Care Reform: Implications for Nursing” on Monday, October 12 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Join UM President Donna E. Shalala, School of Nursing and Health Studies Dean Nilda Peragallo, and a distinguished panel of experts at the M. Christine Schwartz Center for Nursing and Health Studies, rooms 106 and 107. To register, visit www.miami.edu/sonhs/forms/SeminarRegistration100209.html.

A generous grant from the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation will support six students in the School of Nursing and Health Studies’ Family Nurse Practitioner Master of Science of Nursing program.

“Family nurse practitioners have a promising future. The Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation grant will help the students receive the quality educational experiences they need to become expert practitioners,” Nilda Peragallo, dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies, says of the $30,000 grant. “We are extremely grateful to the foundation for supporting our mission to increase nursing capacity and improve access to health care.”

Florida is among five states projected to experience the most critical shortage in primary care physicians within the next decade. This trend underscores the need to educate more family nurse practitioners (FNPs). As frontline primary caregivers, FNPs are important members of the health care system today, providing needed services together with medical specialists.

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The University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies has received two grants totaling more than $60,000 from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). One grant will provide scholarships to undergraduate students, while the other will support students in the school’s graduate nurse practitioner programs.

The HRSA Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students Program provides financial assistance to full-time, financially needy students who are enrolled in health professions and nursing programs. Through this program, UM’s School of Nursing and Health Studies is able to reach out to academically gifted, financially disadvantaged students by assisting with their tuition expenses. HRSA funding for the 2009-2010 academic year in the amount of $32,120 will support undergraduate students who might otherwise be unable to attend UM’s nursing school.

The HRSA Advanced Education Nursing Traineeships Program supports projects in advanced nursing education and practice as well as traineeships for individuals in advanced education programs. This program assists the UM nursing school in supporting students in its MSN nurse practitioner programs. The amount of the financial assistance available for the 2009-2010 academic year is $29,922.

“These HRSA grants underscore the vital role that nursing professionals play in health care today,” says Nilda P. Peragallo, dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies. “In these challenging economic times, funding to support talented nursing students at the undergraduate and graduate levels is critically important and deeply appreciated.”

For more information on the Scholarship for Disadvantaged Students, click here. For more information on the Advanced Education Nursing Traineeship, click here.