The University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s College of Nursing has received a $144,469 grant from the West Cancer Foundation that will support innovative educational opportunities to prepare nurses and nursing students to meet the specific needs of oncology patients.

The project, Providing the Oncology Workforce Education and Resources (POWER) for Nursing Program, will enhance oncology education in nursing in four ways. It will fund a Distinguished Visiting Professorship in Oncology Nursing; it will support the development of an oncology elective in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at UT Health Science Center; and it will fund two students as oncology nurse scholars and two students as oncology research nurse scholars.

The Oncology Scholars programs are one-year courses open to traditional BSN students, which will take place in the last year of their BSN degrees. Students in the Oncology Scholars programs will have paid clinical or research opportunities in diverse oncology settings in the Mid-South. They will also do oncology coursework to gain more knowledge in the field and agree to work in an oncology setting upon graduation, according to College of Nursing Dean Wendy Likes, PhD.