Fairfield University Receives Federal Grant for Nursing Program

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Fairfield University recently received $700,000 from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration to help prepare health care providers of the future for the very busy industry they appear to be entering.

The Affordable Care Act’s expansion of health insurance coverage, coupled with the aging of baby boomers is creating an interesting situation. The amount of patients is predicted to rise sharply because of these two factors, while the number of clinicians to serve these patients is expected to decrease, because baby boomers are retiring and the following generations simply have less people in them.

This means trends involving the amount of people to care for and the amount of people capable of caring for them are going in opposite directions. This convergence of events may create a fertile market for young health care professionals coming out of college, but it also creates heartburn for experts who wonder how this will all play out.

“The Affordable Care Act will expand coverage to over 30 million uninsured individuals, and there are not nearly enough primary care providers to care for them,” said Lynn Babington, Ph.D., RN, professor and dean of Fairfield’s School of Nursing. “This endeavor will address that problem, while funneling health care professionals to medically underserved and economically disadvantaged communities.”

Dr. Barbington explained the hope was that the nurse practitioners aided by this money would help stem the tide of provider shortages in areas throughout the state, like Bridgeport, New Haven and Norwalk.

Associate Dean and Professor Meredith Kazer, Ph.D., APRN, FAAN, added that, “The effort to graduate more nurse practitioners is a national one, and it is truly a credit to the reputation of Fairfield’s School of Nursing that we were funded to the highest grant amount allowed.”

Regulations for nurse practitioners vary from one state to another, but officials in Connecticut have good reason to believe their students will stay. Nurse practitioners in the state have a lot of freedom. They can practice independently, in a clinic or in a physician’s practice. The university encourages students to start their own businesses upon graduation and patient satisfaction levels are particularly high for interactions with nurse practitioners.

“The majority of our family nurse practitioner and psychiatric nurse practitioner students are working, raising families and going to school at night,” explained Dr. Kazer, “Getting financial help could mean the difference between taking one course or two, or might release them from the obligation to work full time, so they can dive into our programs and finish faster.”

The funding also comes with some assurances that recipients will give back to the community. Students who accept the funding are required to work with a disadvantaged population for a prescribed period of time. Priority for the funding is given to fulltime students. The funding will be released over a two-year period.