Albert Einstein Healthcare Network and La Salle University Announce New Nursing Careers Program for Students From Local Communities

Hands-on work experience, mentoring, financial support, guaranteed jobs and full loan repayment are being offered to a special group of nursing students from North and Northwest Philadelphia under an innovative Nursing Careers Program Partnership between Albert Einstein Healthcare Network (AEHN) and La Salle University.

During each year of this ongoing program, 10 students at La Salle’s School of Nursing will receive stipends, paid externships and, after graduation, nursing positions – as well as loan repayment – from AEHN, which is paying fully for the program.

The Nursing Careers Program Partnership developed out of the mutual commitment of AEHN and La Salle, to their local communities. “We want to increase the number of people we can hire from the community to serve the community,” said Barry Freedman, President and CEO, AEHN. “We are pleased to be partners in this initiative to enhance and support our Nursing School and the community at large,” said Brother Michael J. McGinniss, FSC, PhD, La Salle University’s President.

“The Nursing Careers Program Partnership takes a ‘grow your own’ approach to Pennsylvania’s nursing shortage,” said State Representative Dwight Evans, who represents West Oak Lane, one of the neighborhoods that will benefit from the new program. “In addition to providing a promising career path for young people and helping to address the increasing demand for skilled nursing care, the program makes it more likely that these young professionals will live here, raise families here and invest in Philadelphia’s future,” said Evans.

Mary Beth Kingston, MSN, RN, Chief Nursing Executive, AEHN, and Zane Robinson Wolf, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean, La Salle University School of Nursing, describe the program as a “win-win-win” for the community. “La Salle’s School of Nursing will gain an effective tool for recruiting, encouraging and supporting students from local communities. Students selected for the program will benefit from real-life, on-the-job learning,” said Wolf. Kingston says, “the program will help to address the serious shortage of nurses and to increase community representation in AEHN’s highly qualified nursing staff.”

AEHN and La Salle plan to start recruiting junior and senior La Salle nursing students who will begin the program in fall, 2006. When students graduate and begin their nursing careers at AEHN, they’ll receive financial help with their school loans in the form of full loan payback over a specified time period. “This assistance represents a major financial commitment on Einstein’s part,” says Wolf.

Einstein Center for Urban Health Policy and Research, which identifies and develops innovative approaches to improving healthcare delivery to diverse populations, will coordinate the Nursing Careers Program Partnership.