UNC Charlotte School Of Nursing Receives $2.5 Million In Grants To Help Address Nursing Shortage

CHARLOTTE, NC —  “This will be a huge addition and supplement to UNC Charlotte’s School of Nursing’s ability to enroll and graduate more nurses in the coming years,” Dr. Susan Mclennon said. 

The University of North Carolina systems was awarded $29 million dollars in grant funding to help expand nursing education. 

 $2.5 million of that money will go to UNC Charlotte’s School of Nursing. 

“That will allow us to begin an accelerated bachelors degree in nursing, expand our FMP family nurse practitioner program and expand our simulation spaces,” Mclennon said. 

Susan Mclennon, the school of nursing director said the pandemic caused a shortage of nurses that the state is still working to address. 

The grant funding will help them to expand their SIM lab  with virtual reality – a tool that can help give students a more hands-on learning experience. 

“The virtual reality is going to be an exciting addition to our lab because that is a way students can participate in a virtual clinical world and actually interact with a virtual patient or family member,” Mclennon said. 

Mclennon said that hands-on learning will help to better train nurses and prepare them for the workforce. 

“Once they are competent in the lab and they master that skill then we can send them out into the facility to be more competent to be able to take care of patients,” Mclennon said.