Promise of Nursing Gala to Raise Funds for Nursing School Grants, Fellowships and Scholarships

The Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing Hosts Gala to Raise Awareness of Nursing Shortage

Seattle, WA .– As part of its ongoing commitment to help alleviate the nursing shortage in Washington, The Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future will host the “Promise of Nursing for Washington” gala on Tuesday, March 24 to raise funds to help ease the shortage throughout the region. One hundred percent of the event’s proceeds will support regional nursing school grants, faculty fellowships and student scholarships.

Area nurses and health care professionals from regional hospitals and institutions will attend the event at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront hotel beginning at 6 p.m. to celebrate the nursing profession. Following tomorrow night’s event, Promise of Nursing for Washington events are expected to have raised more than $750,000.

“We are currently faced with a looming shortage of nursing professionals in Washington that will only intensify as the population ages and the demand for health care increases,” said Barbara Trehearne, RN, PhD, Executive Director Nursing/Chief Nurse Officer Hospital System at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle and a member of the event steering committee. “This crisis will continue to escalate, putting additional demands on the health care system and adversely impacting our ability to provide nursing care to the citizens of Washington. This event will make a considerable impact on the health of our state and our ability to support the need for additional nurses and nursing faculty.”

According to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington is expected to suffer a nursing shortfall rate of almost 44 percent, more than 26,100 nurses, by the year 2020.

“We have seen an increasing interest in nursing, both by the public and potential students,” said Marla Salmon, ScD, RN, FAAN and the Robert G. and Jean A. Reid endowed Dean in Nursing at the University of Washington in Seattle. “Unfortunately, our ability to produce the nurses that we need is seriously restricted by the acute shortage of qualified nursing faculty in this state and elsewhere. Unless we address the problem of the faculty shortage, schools will have waiting lists of qualified students and the tremendous need for nurses will continue to go unmet,” said Salmon. “We simply must prepare the faculty we need to ensure the future of caring.”

The nursing shortage in Washington mirrors a national shortfall, and in its effort to reduce the gap in communities across the country, Johnson & Johnson has hosted similar fundraising galas across the country, generating more than $15 million since 2002.

“We are sincerely committed to the nurses in this region and will continue to support efforts that help to ease the nursing shortage in Washington and across the nation,” said Andrea Higham, director of The Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future. “We’ve made great progress, but much more work remains to be done to alleviate the shortage. This event will demonstrate how much we can accomplish through partnerships and collaborations.”

For additional information on the Promise of Nursing for Washington, email NursingFundraisingEvent@hcsus.jnj.com.

The organizations that comprise the Promise of Nursing for Washington Steering Committee include: Franciscan Health System, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Good Samaritan Hospital, Group Health Cooperative, Harrison Medical Center, Kindred Hospital Seattle, MultiCare Health System, Nurses Service Organization, Overlake Hospital Medical Center, Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, Providence Health & Services – Washington/Montana Region, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle Children’s, Swedish Medical Center, UFCW Local 141, University of Washington School of Nursing, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Washington State Hospital Association, Washington State Nurses Association and Washington State Nurses Foundation.