Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida recently announced the donation of $600,000 each to the University of North Florida and the University of Florida, as part of the Generation R.N. program, in an effort to address the critical nurse shortage in Florida., UNF and UF were also awarded a $1.2 million SUCCEED grant from the state of Florida to increase the number of nurses who enter Florida’s workforce. The state matched each donation at 70 percent for a grand total of more than two million dollars that will be used for nursing education purposes.
The donation was announced in a news conference on Jan. 10 at Shands Jacksonville. Speakers included Tim Goldfarb, chief executive officer of Shands HealthCare, John Delaney, president of UNF and Bernard Machen, president of UF.
“We deeply appreciate the profound generosity of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida,” Delaney said. “This meaningful gift will enable the School of Nursing to sustain the SUCCEED grant and will help to increase student enrollment.”
The SUCCEED grant optimizes the clinical placement of nursing students and will aid in the development of a new high-tech simulation lab at Shands Jacksonville that will be used for training nurses.
“This gift will enable UF to address the critical need for new nursing faculty by expanding and enhancing the University of Florida’s Ph.D. Consortium, an innovative program that allows nursing students to complete their Ph.D. using a cooperative approach among Florida universities,” Machen said.
Generation R.N. is a public/private partnership initiated by BCBSF to build an expanded, stable and culturally diverse nurse workforce in Florida. Combined with other support, BCBSF-endowed scholarships fund the education of more than 200 nursing students each year.
The nursing shortage in Florida, currently estimated at 34,000 and projected to hit 61,000 by 2020, has a negative impact on the quality and availability of healthcare. Hospital studies show that patient care declines and healthcare costs increase during a shortage. The BCBSF gift, combined with matching dollars from the state legislature, is a significant step in expanding the education system and generating more nurses.