Bellury Selected for Nurse Faculty Leadership Academy and Mercer's College of Nursing Receives HRSA Grant to Improve Workforce Diversity
10/26/2016, The Mercerian, Fall 2016
Bellury Selected for Nurse Faculty Leadership Academy
Mercer's College of Nursing faculty member Dr. Lanell Bellury is one of 12 scholars nationwide selected to participate in the 2016-2017 Nurse Faculty Leadership Academy (NFLA).
The NFLA, sponsored by The Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International and The Elsevier Foundation, is a highly selective, 20 month mentored leadership academy. It is designed to support the recommendations of the 2010 Institute of Medicine report, titled, "The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health," which calls for "health organizations, including nursing organizations and nursing schools, to provide nurses greater opportunities to gain leadership skills and put them into practice."
The NFLA pairs aspiring full-time, non-tenured faculty leaders, called scholars, with experienced leadership mentors, supported by NFLA faculty members. The academy curriculum includes a variety of educational strategies for developing leadership knowledge, competence and outcomes, and is designed to foster academic career success, promote nurse faculty retention and satisfaction, encourage personal leadership development and cultivate high-performing, supportive work environments in academia.
College of Nursing Receives HRSA Grant to Improve Workforce Diversity
Mercer's College of Nursing was recently awarded a nearly $350,000 grant by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to increase nursing education opportunities for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, including racial and ethnic minorities who are underrepresented among registered nurses. The HRSA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The college of Nursing is one of 13 nursing programs across the country to receive this grant.
The funding will support the College's Dedicated to Diversity (D2D) project. Funding will extend over a one-year budget period and focus on retention of nursing students through student stipends, scholarships and opportunities for mentorship and partnerships. In addition, the grant provides academic and peer support.
"Our nursing program is strongly committed to improving the retention of our diverse nursing student population," said Linda A. Streit, Dean of the College. "The proposed aims listed in this project are truly innovative and they reflect the mission of the University, as well as Georgia Baptist College of Nursing."
Dr. Lanell M. Bellury, associate professor, will serve as principal investigator and project director for the grant, which involved collaboration with the Department of Public Health in Mercer's College of Health Professions, as well as the Atlanta Black Nurses Association.
The D2D project will support up to 20 qualified undergraduate students who evidence strong academic potential and economic need.
"The Dedicated to Diversity project will heighten the overall cultural awareness within the College to one which can make positive strides toward cultivating diversity in the profession of nursing," said Dr. Bellury. "Overall, the project aims to provide support to facilitate the success and retention of our students."
Lanell Bellury, PhD, is an expert in cancer survivorship and an Associate Professor at the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing of Mercer University. Among her many accomplishments, she aided Georgia CORE in developing a multi-tiered award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to support “Patient-Centered Cancer Survivorship Care: Improving Quality of Care and Quality of Life for Survivors in Georgia.” The award from PCORI will enable Georgia CORE to engage cancer survivors, healthcare providers and many other stakeholders in the process of developing research to address the needs of vulnerable cancer survivors in Georgia. "The on-going healthcare needs of cancer survivors, especially vulnerable older and minority survivors, are well recognized yet little evidence exists to guide the best care for survivors. With the number of cancer survivors growing exponentially, it is imperative that we discover the best way to meet the needs of survivors across the state," notes Dr. Bellury.
Learn more about the PCORI grant here.
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