Foundation to fund career opportunities in nursing.

Hospital associations in nine State and metropolitan areas have received 1-year planning grants of approximately $45,000 each to make nursing education accessible to health care workers interested in nursing as a career.

The $5 million initiative, called the Ladders in Nursing Careers program,

The program is an expansion of the Greater New York Hospital Association's "Project LINC," a career program developed and tested among minorities and low-income persons in New York City with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

The planning phase of the new program will enable grant recipients to establish project components and to identify local funding sources to cover tuition and staff replacement expenses.

After successful completion of the planning phase, certain sites will be selected to receive 3-year implementation grants of up to $500,000 each. At that time, each association will enroll up to 100 full-time hospital or nursing home employees in nursing school. Those students will continue to receive full salary and benefits, while working parttime at their regular jobs. In exchange, the students will agree to work for their sponsoring institutions for a set period of time after the completion of schooling.

One-on-one guidance and supportive services, such as transportation and child care, will be available to ensure that students are able to attend classes. Support for such educational expenses as books, supplies, and laboratory fees also will be provided by each site.

"An important goal of the Ladders in Nursing Careers program is to provide the opportunity for people to attend nursing school who traditionally do not enter nursing in large numbers, such as minorities. The objective is to help expand the pool of nursing professionals into one that is more reflective of the cultural diversity of the general population," said Steven A. Schroeder, M.D., president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The nine associations that were awarded grants under this program are: * Georgia Hospital Association Research Foundation, Marietta, Georgia. * Iowa Hospital Education and Research Foundation, Des Moines, Iowa. * Maryland Hospital Education and Research Foundation, Lutherville, Maryland. * Metropolitan Healthcare Council, St. Paul, Minnesota. * North Dakota Hospital Association, Bismarck, North Dakota. * Greater Cleveland Hospital Association, Cleveland, Ohio. * The Hospital Association of Rhode Island, Providence, Rhode Island. * South Carolina Hospital Research and Education Foundation, West Columbia, South Carolina. * Texas Hospital Education and Research Foundation, Austin, Texas.

Direction and technical assistance for the program are being provided by program director Margaret McNally, vice president of health professions, the Greater New York Hospital Association, in conjunction with Deborah Bohr, vice president of the Hospital Research and Educational Trust, Chicago.

RWJF is the largest private philanthropy in the United States dedicated exclusively to improving the health and health care of Americans. RWJF is expected to award more than $175 million in grants in 1993.