That was how 23 Grand Valley State University nursing students reacted to the news that they would each receive a $10,000 stipend to help them concentrate on clinical and classroom work during the next year of an accelerated bachelors degree nursing program.
Phyllis Gendler, dean of the Kirkhof College of Nursing, and other faculty members announced the surprise news April 14 during an regularly scheduled student orientation meeting.
Gendler said the stipends continue a program developed last year by the state to increase the number of nurses in the workforce. Last July, Grand Valley was one of 13 Michigan universities and community colleges that received more than $17 million in grants to accelerate training for nurses and other health care professionals. This $1.4 million grant is supported by the Michigan Department of Community Health and will, in part, include a match from Grand Valley and partnership support from Spectrum Health.
"We want you to be very successful in this program," Gendler told the students. "We don't want you to have to work, just concentrate on these classes."
Through the accelerated program, the cohort of 23 students will graduate with a nursing degree next April and then be eligible to sit for state licensure exams.
Amanda Dentler tried quickly to process the news. "It's not every day someone gives you $10,000," she said.
Kimber Tritten said the stipend was the second best piece of news she heard recently. The first? Her husband, who is serving in the Army in Iraq, would be home soon for a visit. "Now I have two things to look forward to," she said.
Tritten is typical of the students who enter the new accelerated program. She has bachelor's degrees from Michigan State in psychology and human biology, but wanted to enter the nursing field.
"I've done a lot of work with research but decided I wanted more interaction with people," she said. Tritten added that nursing job will provide flexible job opportunities, allowing her to move to wherever her husband is stationed.
