The goal of Nurse Support Program (NSP) is to increase the number of nurses in Maryland hospitals. NSP I is hospital centered while NSP II focuses on expanding the capacity to educate nurses through nursing education programs at Maryland institutions. Research is showing a critical need for an increase in highly-educated nurses and an improved education system, which is needed to address the nursing shortage expected to impact the state by 2025. While 13 percent of nurses hold a graduate degree, less than one percent has a doctoral degree. Nurses with doctorates are needed to teach future generations of nurses and to conduct research that will become the basis for improvements in nursing science and practice.
The implementation of the following goals will assist in meeting this critical need in Maryland:
Nursing programs submit proposals for grant projects that address their specific educational needs. A multi-stakeholder evaluation committee reviews the proposals and works with designated institutional project directors to ensure compliance with the original approved project with any changes supporting the overall goals of the NSP II.
At the conclusion of the first ten years of funding on January 14, 2015, five more years of funding was renewed. The HSCRC renewed NSP II funding for FY 2016 through June 30, 2020. In 2016 the Maryland General Assembly revised the NSP II statute to meet Maryland's changing health care delivery models to recognize all registered nurses (RNs) are needed to ensure a strong nursing workforce. On December 11, 2019, the HSCRC renewed NSP II funding for FY2021 through June 30, 2025.
For more information, please visit the Nurse Support Program website at http://www.nursesupport.org/.
Eligible applicants consist of 1) individual Maryland higher education institutions with nursing degree programs, 2) consortia of Maryland institutions of higher education with nursing degree programs and Maryland hospitals, or 3) partnerships of Maryland higher education institutions with nursing degree programs.
Applications were to be submitted by March 6, 2020. A similar deadline is anticipated, annually.
Award amounts vary.