Chamberlain University St. Louis “High School to BSN” program is helping to address the nursing shortage in the St. Louis region and nationally.
A new grant is available for local high school graduates interested in nursing school, and applications are being accepted for the next term, which begins in March.
Future nursing students, Ka’Nya Bailey and Damiyah Coates said the grant assistance program will help them achieve their future career goals.
Bailey was inspired to start planning a career as a nurse in middle school after she saw her mom, grandmother, and aunt pursue nursing.
“I would sometimes go to work with my mom saw the ins and outs of her job, and I loved every minute of it,” said Bailey.
Nursing was a major part of Coates’ childhood too. Her mom attended Chamberlain University, and she remembers watching her doing homework. Now, her mom has a local home health care business in St. Louis.
“She encouraged me to apply and seeing her succeed pushed and motivated me to want to do it. She said everyone was so welcoming and nice and that Chamberlain’s program was great,’” said Coates
The grant offers a 40% tuition savings that is up to $34,000 in value to support recent high school graduates pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree. The grant is open to applicants within two years of their high school graduation or GED certification date.
The resource is also helping to address the projected shortage of half a million nurses in the U.S. by 2030, and the cost of higher education. It also gives younger students an additional avenue to enter the nursing field. The grant also expands access to education to ease the nursing pipeline issue.
The nationwide nursing shortage is impacting every state and community, and St. Louis is no exception,” said Chamberlain President Tammy Keesey, DNP, RN, CENP, NE-BC, FACHE.
“The nation’s largest nursing school (with locations across America) is doing its part to help fill the pipeline of practice-ready nurses by making obtaining a degree more accessible and easing the financial burden on students.”
There is also an acute shortage of African American nurses.
According to data from the US Chamber of Commerce, there are only nine registered nurses on average for every 1,000 people. Only 6.7% of registered nurses are Black, even though Black people comprise around 13% of the U.S. population.
Research shows that patients who are of the same race as their healthcare provider have better outcomes. These improvements range from significant declines in Black infant mortality and an approximately 19% drop in mortality rates for Black men.
Black patients and patients of color also were more likely to get preventative care when their clinician shares their racial background. And 83% of Black mental health providers believe racial concordance is important to patient outcomes, according to the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.
The nursing school offers many scholarships and tuition aid programs, and more than 90% of Chamberlain students receive some form of financial assistance.
Chamberlain’s offers online and flexible programs to attract more working adults who are balancing work life and academics.
“We are hoping that by introducing this scholarship, more students will find attending nursing school right out of high school to be a more attainable option,” said Keesey
“Especially given the nursing shortage, we hope students will realize that nursing is a very in-demand and stable profession where they can also find personal fulfillment and an opportunity to give back to their communities.”
Bailey knew nursing was something that she aspired to.
“There are so many different avenues to take with nursing and it’s such a broad field, I want to learn as much as I can about my career and what’s possible,” she said.
She describes the campus as a tight-knit community, which she appreciates.
“The professors know you and give you that one-on-one attention, there are plenty of opportunities to be successful at Chamberlain and the faculty and staff put the care of their students,” said Bailey.
Bailey’s family has limited financial access, and she knew investing in her education would put her in a position to one day help improve her family’s financial status.
“There are a lot of students like me who want to attend college right out of high school and may not have the funds, so scholarships are really helpful,” said Coates.
Like Bailey, the grant has aided her during her academic college years. She was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to attend her school of choice because her family didn’t have the money.
“This scholarship takes a financial load off me,” she said.