The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing is set to take its place alongside UC Davis‘ Medical Center thanks to the approval given by the UC Board of Regents on Mar. 19.
Named in honor of the $100 million philanthropic grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, UC Davis is launching the school with hopes of developing proficient nurses – and leaders – in health care to provide patients with quality care, while becoming educated in advanced health. Construction will begin on the new facility pending approval from other academic agencies including the university‘s Academic Senate.
“The establishment of a new school of nursing increases the University of California’s capacity for preparing nurses and nurse faculty,” said UC Regents Chairman Richard C. Blum at the meeting.
“[It will also provide] a historic opportunity to develop a new interdisciplinary education model that will pave the way for improving health in California and in the nation,” he said.
The new nursing school will join UC Davis as the sixth professional school following the nationally recognized programs in medicine, veterinary medicine, law, business and education and a proposed School of Public Health.
The school’s curriculum will focus on promoting healthy people and healthy living programs for doctoral, masters and undergraduate degrees in nursing. Areas of study and research will include, but are not limited to, poorly treated populations, specifically ethnic minorities, rural and aging people and leadership in improving health care systems, according to a Mar. 20 Dateline UC Davis article.
“We share a vision with UC Davis to transform health systems and nursing education,” said Steve McCormick, the president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in a press release.
“The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing will foster innovation that advances the field of nursing. We need more leaders to join this partnership and make this vision a reality,” he said.
Though, according to the California Board of Registered Nurses, the nursing workforce is foreseen to decrease significantly by more than 100,000 by 2020, California’s nursing schools were forced to turn away more than 20,000 qualified applicants due to lack of faculty members last year.
UC Davis‘ Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing plans to address the need for more faculty by developing graduate-level nursing programs that will help increase California’s nursing education capacity by creating educators for all levels of nursing education.
“This is a unique opportunity for UC Davis to look at the future of health care and the health needs in our communities,” said UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. “This school is being founded on the premise of transforming nursing education – changing how we teach health professionals together and how health care is delivered in our communities.“
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation was established in Sept. 2000 with the intention of improving the quality of life for future generations by developing outcome-based projects. It was Betty’s vision to improve patient safety that led to the approval of the 10-year Betty Irene Moore Nursing Initiative in 2003. This Initiative hopes to improve nursing-related patient care through a regional system while increasing the nursing workforce, according to the organization‘s website.
Construction will begin on the new facility pending approval from other academic agencies including the university‘s Academic Senate.
POOJA DEOPURA can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
