Grant Initiatives

Faculty Scholars Grant Program

In May 2020, the foundation announced the AACN Faculty Scholars Grant Program.  This program provides funding support to nurse educators whose scholarly activities reflect current issues in nursing education or practice and support AACN’s strategic priorities.  Through this initiative, a total of $100,000 in funding has been distributed to support four $25,000 faculty scholarship projects through 2022. Funding for this program was provided by more than 150 nursing schools and organizations that contributed to AACN’s 50th Anniversary Celebration program.

View Grantees


Additional AACN-Grant Funded Initiatives

Accelerating the Adoption of Competency-Based Education

Through the Reimagining Nursing Initiative, the American Nurses Foundation award $1.5 million to AACN for a three-year project: Competency-Based Education for Practice-Ready Nurse Graduates. AACN will award $100,000 to 10 schools of nursing to pilot curriculum to meet the expectations delineated in the AACN Essentials.

Enhancing the Leadership and Resilience Skills of Nursing Students

Johnson & Johnson awarded $324,115 to AACN to support A Competency-Based Approach to Leadership Development and Resilience for Student Nurses. As part of this initiative, AACN awarded $10,000 to 10 schools of nursing to pilot curriculum aligned with the AACN Essentials. Through the generous funding, AACN developed a Developing Nursing Well-Being and Leadership Tool Kit to help support sustainable improvements in nurse well-being through curricular innovation and competency-based learning activities. 

Creating Inclusive Learning Environments at Schools of Nursing

With $174,900 in funding from Johnson & Johnson, AACN launched the Building a Culture of Belonging in Academic Nursing project to identify strategies for creating diverse, equitable, and inclusive academic environments that facilitate the success of all students.

Combatting Vaccine Hesitancy

AACN was awarded $1 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to initiate Building COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence Among Nurses and in Communities. Through this effort, AACN awarded funding to 10 schools to launch targeted campaigns to encourage COVID-19 vaccination and increase confidence in communicating accurate vaccine information.

Empowering Doctoral-Prepared Faculty, Researchers, and Advanced Clinicians

Beginning in 2023, AACN announced an expanded partnership with Jonas Philanthropies. The Jonas Scholars initiative identifies and invests in high-potential doctoral nursing Scholars from across the country. Through the generous contributions of Jonas Philanthropies, over 1,400 doctoral nursing Scholars representing all 50 states have received critical funding to support their academic endeavors to address our nation’s most pressing healthcare needs. The Scholars have gone on to leadership positions as faculty, clinical leaders, researchers, and more.

Strengthening Biomedical Research to Advance Precision Medicine

Since 2017, AACN and the National Institutes of Health have promoted the All of Us Research Program, which seeks greater representation of diverse communities in biomedical research. To date, AACN has awarded $400,000 to 48 nursing schools to bring awareness to this program.

Funding Innovations in Public/Population Health

Since 2014, AACN has partnered with the CDC to support the development of nurse researchers and scholars who are leading innovative projects focused on priority Public/Population Health concerns. To date, 11 AACN-CDC Public Health Nursing Fellows have received support.

Supporting Graduate Nursing Student Scholarship

Since 2017, AACN has partnered with the National Institute on Drug Abuse on the NIDA Blending Initiative: Moving Science from Research to Practice to advance research, dissemination, and adoption of evidence-based projects focused on Substance Use Disorders treatment practices. To date, $80,000 in funding has been disbursed to 8 nursing students.

See Their Work

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By presenting a webinar on their research, our diverse and talented Faculty Scholars bring their depth of knowledge to the fore.

Not only is this an excellent way to reach more young professionals, but it also provides presentation experience for those earlier in their careers and serves as a networking opportunity, as well. Presenting a webinar also allows the Faculty Scholar Grantee a chance to delve deeper into parts of their research that are the most interesting or impactful with an audience that is not only knowledgeable but equally invested. 

These webinars are available for free and on-demand for all students and faculty to access and learn from. 

See All Scholar Webinars

Contribute to the Foundation

The Foundation for Academic Nursing is currently seeking support from philanthropies, corporate donors, and individuals looking to advance AACN’s goals and priorities. Your support will help to expand our impact and usher in new innovations in nursing education and practice. For more information, please contact foundation@aacnnursing.org.

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