Two UAMS Faculty Members Receive Geriatric Nursing Awards

By todd

LITTLE ROCK – Two faculty members at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) have received awards from the John A. Hartford Foundation and the Atlantic Philanthropies, through the Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity (BAGNC) scholar awards program.


 


Sunghee Tak, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N., assistant professor in the UAMS College of Nursing received $120,000 over two years as a BAGNC postdoctoral scholar to support her research in the field of geriatric nursing. Linda Beuscher, M.S.N., A.P.N., R.N., an instructor in the Department of Geriatrics in the UAMS College of Medicine received $66,920 as a BAGNC Scholar to support her studies in geriatric research.


 


This year, 13 pre-doctoral scholars and 11 post-doctoral fellows were chosen through a national competition as part of the original John A. Hartford Foundation’s initiative aimed at building academic geriatric nursing capacity in the field. To date, the Hartford Foundation has invested more than $9.28 million in scholarships for nurses through this program.


 


BAGNC aims to reduce the disparity between society’s need for a health system that can respond competently to increasing numbers of elders and the relatively small nursing workforce currently prepared to meet those demands.


The Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity initiative funds five Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, established seven additional university based investment projects, and provides scholarships to build capacity in geriatric nursing education, leadership, research and best practice models.


UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, five centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has more than 2,200 students and 660 residents and is the state’s largest public employer with almost 9,000 employees. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $4.1 billion a year.


 


UAMS centers of excellence are the Arkansas Cancer Research Center, Harvey and Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy and Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute.