{"id":133462,"date":"2023-01-30T10:00:21","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T15:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=133462"},"modified":"2024-07-18T15:35:16","modified_gmt":"2024-07-18T19:35:16","slug":"gift-from-elizabeth-morse-genius-foundation-to-support-new-college-of-nursing-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/gift-from-elizabeth-morse-genius-foundation-to-support-new-college-of-nursing-building\/","title":{"rendered":"Gift from Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation to Support New College of Nursing Building"},"content":{"rendered":"
With a generous $500,000 gift, the Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation has become one of the founding donors for the new UCF College of Nursing building at Lake Nona\u2019s Medical City. This investment in UCF will help unleash the potential of more Knight nurses while bolstering the nursing workforce in Central Florida, which is in critical need of more highly qualified professionals.<\/p>\n
\u201cHugh and Jeannette McKean made a deep impact in Central Florida, and their legacy will continue with this gift to build the College of Nursing for the future,\u201d says Mary Lou Sole, dean of the UCF College of Nursing. \u201cWe are thankful to the Genius Foundation for their continued support, which will provide more educational opportunities to future Knight nurses whose clinical excellence and compassion will positively impact many lives in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both the region and state are facing a critical nursing shortage. According to the Florida Hospital Association, an additional 2,300 registered nurses (RNs) are needed to enter the workforce each year to address Florida\u2019s projected shortage of 37,400 RNs by 2035.<\/p>\n
UCF is already the largest educator of newly licensed registered nurses in the State University System of Florida. With double the classroom space and three times the simulation and lab space, the new 90,000-square-foot nursing building will facilitate increased enrollment across degree programs to graduate an additional 150 new nurses annually \u2014 as well as more nursing faculty who are needed to educate future generations.<\/p>\n
Growing the number of UCF nursing graduates will have a direct impact throughout the state and especially in Central Florida. Of the more than 14,000 Knight nurse alumni, more than 85% live and work in Florida and nearly 60% remain in Central Florida, according to a recent alumni survey.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth the Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation and our UCF Knight nurse graduates have a shared commitment to improving lives in Central Florida and making it a better place to live for everyone,\u201d Sole says.<\/p>\n
In addition, with an optimal location at UCF\u2019s Academic Health Sciences Campus, already home to the UCF College of Medicine and the UCF Lake Nona Medical Center, the new building will foster greater collaboration in research and innovation.<\/p>\n