Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Forefront, but we’re sharing it in The Daily now in honor of National Hospice & Palliative Care Month.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the United States will need another 1.1 million nurses by 2022. But the shortage goes beyond the bedside. Nurse scientists are needed to develop and test interventions to improve patient health. “Donor support is critical. Research is critical,” said Joachim Voss. Voss is the director of the PhD program at Case Western Reserve University’s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and the Independence Foundation Professor in Nursing Education.
Of particular interest to Voss is the new Derry Ann Moritz Scholarship—a unique opportunity for nursing school PhD candidates whose dissertations focus on palliative or end of life care. Moritz (NUR ‘58) established this scholarship in honor of her friend Barbara Daly (NUR ‘72), a Case Western Reserve Distinguished University Professor Emerita and the Gertrude Perkins Oliva Professor Emerita of Oncology Nursing whose life’s work has focused on addressing the unique challenges that come with treating critically and chronically ill patients.
“Palliative and end of life care don’t typically receive a lot of attention from funders,” Voss shared, “and when they do, support is often focused on a specific disease, such as cancer.”While disease-specific research is important, the wide scope of the Moritz scholarship will allow for a greater variety of diseases and circumstances to be studied, which benefits patients and scientists alike.PhD students can leave the school knowing they have contributed to meaningful research—and that they will have their choice of career opportunities.