This Veterans Day, Nov. 11, there is new hope. Thanks to a $1.5 million grant to Florida Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, veterans will care for other veterans.
The project, Caring-Based Academic Partnerships in Excellence: Veteran RNs in Primary Care, will train veteran nursing students to provide primary care services to other veterans in rural and underserved communities. Beth King, an assistant professor in FAU's College of Nursing, is project director and has extensive experience educating veteran nursing students.
The grant, courtesy of the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, will “form a primary care workforce of practicing registered nurses who understand the unique needs of military veterans and are practice ready and willing to serve rural and underserved communities,” according to a press release.
And since Florida is home to about 1.5 million military veterans and has the third largest vet population in the nation, this is certainly a welcome program.
“Nurses who have served in the military themselves are uniquely positioned to care for other veterans and truly understand their specific needs,” said Marlaine Smith, dean of FAU’s College of Nursing, according to a press release.
Visit nursing.fau.edu.