Marquette University Receives Nursing Grant For Veterans’ Health Care

A $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will enable more nursing students to enroll this fall at Marquette University.

The grant will go towards training nurses in health care for veterans.

A shortage of nursing faculty across the nation has slowed the education of nursing students needed to replace an aging workforce. At the same time, there’s increasing demand for health care for aging and returning veterans.

Beth Ann Taylor is associate director for patient care services at the Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee.

“Forty-seven percent of our nursing staff are 50 years old or greater. This increase in new undergraduates coming into our employ will help us achieve the generational diversity we need.”

The nursing students she refers to will come from Marquette University. It is using a $5 million grant to hire 10 fulltime nursing faculty. Some of the nurses are likely to be advanced practice nurses who currently work at the Milwaukee VA.

Kerry Kosmoski-Goepfert is the associate dean of undergraduate programs at Marquette’s College of Nursing. She says vets may have hearing problems from aircraft or bombs. They may also have been exposed to chemicals.

“All veterans, dependent on the war they may have served in or the service branch, have very specific health care needs. One of the needs that transcend all others is posttraumatic stress syndrome.”

The grant money will allow Marquette to have 20 more nursing students this year, for a total of 130.