Two doctoral students named Jonas scholars

Two doctoral students, Stephanie Jeffers, MSN, RN and Catherine Jean Morse, MSN, ANP/GNP/ACNP-BC, CCRN, from Villanova University College of Nursing are among the five PhD candidates named as the second cohort of National League for Nursing (NLN) Jonas Scholars. This prestigious honor supports doctoral research in nursing education. A grant from the New York-based Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence funds the program which selects scholars through a competitive review from a national pool of applicants.

Jeffers’ is researching “Nurse Faculty Perceptions of End-of-Life Education in the Clinical Setting: A Phenomenological Perspective” for her dissertation while Morse’s dissertation research is titled “The Effect of Debriefing with Good Judgment on Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Students’ Reflective Ability and Perspective Transformation.”

The Jonas Scholars Program was created in 2008 as an innovative program to support the educational development of new nurse faculty. It includes a series of conference calls and other interactions among the scholars and between scholars and mentor-leaders. Funds include financial support for the scholars' research through the 2011-12 academic term and travel expenses for meetings with mentors at the NLN Education Summit.

The mission of the Jonas Center is to advance professional nursing through grant-making and programs that improve nurse recruitment and retention; increase ethnic diversity among the nursing workforce; promote innovative practice models; and improve practice settings in New York City and beyond.