KCON earns national grant to support doctoral nursing candidates

The Kirkhof College of Nursing received a $20,000 grant from the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Health Care to provide scholarships for two doctor of nursing practice students. 

The grant funds one DNP Jonas Nurse Scholar and one DNP Jonas Veterans Health Care Scholar, each for $10,000. KCON will provide matching funds. Amelia Grayson, of Grand Rapids, and Christina Winkelman, of Lewiston, were selected as the recipients of the funding that will enable continuation of their doctoral education and support specific scholarship projects.

“We are very pleased to be acknowledged by the Jonas Center in this way as it affirms KCON’s commitment to providing quality nursing education and preparing nurses to improve the well-being of our communities,” said Cynthia McCurren, dean and professor of KCON.

Grayson will examine what interventions can best support home-based elderly who are managing their own medications.

“Those over age 65, who are a fast-growing segment of our population, tend to have more chronic illnesses, and take more prescription medications than younger people,” Grayson said. “My project will look at what interventions are best for leading to increased adherence and chronic disease management, while decreasing adverse events and hospitalizations.”

Winkelman will study text messaging to oncology patients as an effective medication reminder. “The use of this intervention has shown to be effective in increasing medication adherence in people who have chronic disease,” Winkelman said.

This is the second time the Jonas Center has awarded a grant to KCON as part of the center’s national effort to prepare the next generation of nurses. KCON’s newest Jonas Scholars will begin clinical practicum immersion experiences in the fall of 2016 and will be supported through 2018.

Based in New York, the Jonas Center is the country’s leading philanthropic funder of graduate nursing education.