The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida has recently been awarded a two-year, $250,000 grant from the Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future (PINF).
The Blue Foundation, which is the philanthropy arm of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF), is one of 10 organizations to receive funding from the PINF during the 2009 grant cycle. Funds given to the foundation will be matched by (BCBSF) and will be used to encourage the use of simulations in nurse education.
The PINF is lead by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Northwest Health Foundation, and is in its fourth year of operation. The goal of the program is to encourage local innovation in nursing education which can then be taken to a more national level. The goal is to combat a nation-wide shortage of nurses.
Susan B. Towler, the executive director for the Blue Foundation, said the organization is excited for the opportunity to work with the program. The grant the Blue Foundation received marks the first time a Florida organization has benefited from the PINF.
“By addressing one of the primary barriers to expansion of Florida’s nurse education programs, the supply of nurses will increase, and the quality and quantity of health care available to Floridians will benefit from improved nurse staffing,” Towler said.
In all, the PINF has given more than $10 million to local partnerships over four years, and has helped raise $8 million locally in order to help maintain programs it has funded. In its first three years, the PINF has helped establish more than 300 partnerships spanning 24 states and territories. The partnerships include nursing organizations, funders and workforce development boards.
its excelent to know that we nurses are doing our best for world