Date: 8/12/2010
CONTACT:
Dawn Wolf-Taylor, nursing education coordinator
Eastern New Mexico University
BSN Completion Program
1500 S. Avenue K, Station 12
Portales, NM 88130
dawn.wolf-taylor@enmu.edu
575.562.2127
Dr. Leslie Paternoster, director
Eastern New Mexico University
BSN Completion Program
1500 S. Avenue K, Station 12
Portales, NM 88130
leslie.paternoster@enmu.edu
575.562.2773
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| ENMU nursing student Daniel Brown working on his BSN in between shifts as a registered nurse at Heartland Continuing Care Center in Portales. |
Portales, NM—The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Completion Program at Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) was awarded $502,000 this summer as part of a New Mexico Higher Education Department grant. The purpose of this grant is to increase the percentage of Baccalaureate-prepared registered nurses (RNs) in New Mexico to help meet the state goal of a nursing workforce comprised of at least 66% of BSN/RNs by 2015.
ENMU’s BSN Completion Program enables RNs to continue working full-time in their communities while earning their BSN through an educational program that they can complete at their own pace. Students currently in the program include practicing nurses from New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, and as far away as Pennsylvania. The majority of the grant funds will be distributed to New Mexico nurses who are working toward their BSN at ENMU in the form of tuition scholarships. In the Fall 2010 semester, $86,772.50 will be distributed in this manner, according to Dr. Leslie Paternoster, director of ENMU’s BSN Completion Program. The remaining funding will be used to provide support for nursing students, including a program in which students can borrow lap top computers to use throughout the duration of their study at ENMU.
For more information about ENMU’s BSN Completion Program, and about other sources of funding and educational paths to nursing, contact Dawn Wolf-Taylor, nursing education coordinator, at 575.562.2127 or dawn.wolf-taylor@enmu.edu.