New scholarships to encourage more nurses in Aurora area
An Aurora philanthropy is offering $750,000 in scholarships to encourage people to become registered nurses and work in the Aurora area.
The Dunham Nursing Scholarship - Advancing Nursing in Aurora, instituted by Rush-Copley Medical Center, is being paid for by the Dunham Fund. It aims to help 121 people.
The Dunham Fund prefers to give to education and community development programs, per the directive of its late founder, businessman John Dunham. Its stated goal is to "make the world a safer and more comfortable place for mankind."
The scholarships will do all this, according to several people on the scholarship advisory panel.
"We need skilled nurses with critical thinking skills," not just practical task skills, said Dr. Dennis Keane, chief medical adviser to the Dunham Nursing Scholarship program. He said mortality rates and medication errors decline when patients are under the care of registered nurses with bachelor's and master's degrees.
"It will mean to some of our staff that they will have the opportunity to go back to school for advanced degrees, and will expose young nurses to the community health arena," said Kane County Board member Gerry Jones of Aurora, chairman of that board's public health committee. Recipients will be required to work on a community service project to address what they think is "an unmet health need most significant" to the Aurora area, according to Barbara Graham, executive director of the Rush-Copley Foundation.
Students must live or work in the Aurora area to be eligible. The Dunham Fund defines that broadly as running to Route 47 on the west, Route 38 to the north, Route 59 on the east and Route 34 on the south.
They must agree to work in the Aurora area full-time for two years, or part-time for four years, after they become a registered nurse. They also have to take their nursing classes at Waubonsee Community College or Aurora University. People who are already working as licensed practical nurses, or who have associate's degrees, are eligible, in addition to students just starting their nursing education.
Scholarship applications will be available Oct. 1, and funding starts Jan. 1. WCC students can receive up to 90 percent of their tuition, and Aurora University students 75 percent. Applications will be available on the Web sites of the schools, Rush-Copley Medical Center, the Dunham Fund, Provena Mercy Medical Center, Dreyer Medical Clinic, the Kane County Health Department, Alden of Waterford, the Rush-Copley Foundation and the Visiting Nurse Association of the Fox Valley.