FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 5, 2007

MUW’s graduate nursing program awarded grant

By Jill D. O’Bryant

COLUMBUS, Miss. -- Mississippi University for Women’s graduate
nursing program has been awarded an Advanced Education Nursing
Traineeship (AENT) Grant for FY 2008 from the Health Resources and
Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services in the amount of $39,187.

The grant will provide federal funding to cover some of the college
expenses for graduate nursing students who will return to their home
communities to provide care in underserved areas.

“The focus of the graduate nursing program is to educate advanced
practice nurses in primary care,” said Dr. Sheila Adams, dean of the
College of Nursing and Speech-Language Pathology. “The majority of our
graduate nursing students come from rural and underserved counties that
have limited or no primary healthcare, and most will return to their
home communities to practice.”

Dr. Patsy Smyth, director of the graduate nursing program, is the
project coordinator and will oversee the grant. She received a doctor of
science in nursing degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham,
a master of science in nursing degree from the University of Pittsburgh
and a bachelor of science in nursing degree from the State University of
New York.

Prior to coming to MUW, Dr. Smyth was the director of the graduate
nursing program at Western Carolina University.

“We are fortunate to have received this grant and to have someone of
Dr. Smyth’s caliber as project coordinator,” Adams said.

MUW’s graduate nursing program, established in 1975, was the first
master’s nurse practitioner program in Mississippi and the only
program until the late 1990s. Graduates of this program have assumed
leadership roles in healthcare throughout the state, region and country
and have received prestigious awards such as the National Pfizer
Advanced Nurse Practitioner Award for exceptional contributions to
health care.

Dr. Adams said that the tradition of quality and success of the
graduate nursing program continues to make admission intensely
competitive with approximately two to three applicants for every
available place in the program. Because of this competition and the
rigorous requirements of the program, prospective students must have a
minimum of two years of clinical experience to be considered for
admission.

In addition, the program offers two post-master’s certificate options
for specialty nurse practitioners or clinical nurse specialists who want
to become family nurse practitioners. Graduates are eligible to sit for
national certification in the specialty area of family nurse
practitioner. Forty MUW master’s nursing students graduated in 2006.

MUW’s nursing department, which was recognized as the 2007
Mississippi School of Nursing of the Year by the Mississippi Nurses
Association and the Mississippi Nurses Foundation, offers three degree
programs: the Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN), the Bachelor of
Science in Nursing (BSN) and the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN).

All three programs have been continually accredited by state, regional
and national accrediting bodies. The Associate of Science in Nursing
Program is accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting
Commission. The Baccalaureate Nursing Program and the Graduate Nursing
Program are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing
Education, which is now the preferred national accrediting body for
baccalaureate and higher degree nursing programs.

For more information about MUW’s nursing programs, please contact the
Office of Admissions at (662) 329-7106 or visit the web at
www.muw.edu/nursing/.