The Helene Fuld Health Trust
Foundation Helps FIU Tackle Nationwide Nursing Shortage
By 2022, more than 1 million job openings for nurses will need to be filled in the U.S., indicating rapid job growth in the field, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, experts from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing are still projecting a nursing shortage that will only intensify as Baby Boomers age and the need for health care grows.
Thanks to partners like the Helene Fuld Health Trust, FIU’s Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences is well-positioned to help stem the shortage – ensuring its more than 500 annual graduates are well-prepared to be health care leaders who deliver high-quality, culturally competent patient care.
The Helene Fuld Health Trust’s recent gift of $650,000 to the college’s Accelerated BSN program has already provided many FIU students with the opportunity and ability to take on this demanding program and be ready to enter the workforce. The program is specifically designed for highly motivated individuals who are seeking a career change after previously earning a bachelor’s degree in another field.
Sanya Diaz, MD, BSN, RN, is a current student in FIU’s program who is receiving aid from the Helene Fuld Health Trust while she transitions from being a foreign-educated physician into a nurse practitioner in the United States.
“Transitioning has been an amazing educational experience at FIU,” she said. “The scholarship support was extremely important because it gave me the opportunity to focus completely on my [exam] preparation, and successfully pass it the first time.” Students like Diaz embody exactly what the Helene Fuld Health Trust is all about: helping nursing students excel – something the foundation has been doing since it was founded in 1935.
Today, the Helene Fuld Health Trust’s mission is to support and promote the health, welfare and education of student nurses. The trust is also the nation’s largest private funder devoted exclusively to nursing students and nursing education. Diaz, who will complete her program next year, said she feels immense gratitude toward the Helene Fuld Health Trust and all who have made her FIU education possible.
“I am eager to have the opportunity to give back to the community in the most meaningful manner,” said Diaz, who is excited to enter the nursing field soon, and help fulfill the national need for more highly trained health care professionals.
Help FIU’s Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences become even better as FIU heads into its next 50 years forward. Learn more by visiting http://cnhs.fiu.edu/. Or, give today at https://give.fiu.edu/give-now/nicole-wertheim-college-of-nursing-and-health-sciences/.