Cynthia Ulreich named Oakland University School of Nursing's Jonas Scholarship Award winner

Leaders at Oakland University's School of Nursing have announced that Cynthia Ulreich, NP-C, AOCNP, of Waterford, is the recipient of a $20,000 Jonas Nurse Leaders Scholar Program award from the Jonas Center for Nursing. She will use this award to pursue her Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree at Oakland University.

Ulreich is the Advanced Practice Provider Leader in Hematology Oncology at Henry Ford Health System (HFHS). She leads a team of eight nurse practitioners and two physician assistants at several oncology centers throughout the Metro Detroit area and chairs the Advanced Practice Provider Council for HFHS and the Chemo Oversite Committee.

"As a DNP, I want to enhance the quality of the oncology patient educational tools, but also teach beginning nursing students the heart and soul of nursing," said Ulreich. "Receiving this very generous, very prestigious scholarship from The Jonas Foundation and Oakland University feels like such a wonderful reward for all of the hard work and dedication I have invested in my career to date. I have always wanted to be an educator, helping people who have answered the call of nursing to become highly functioning, career minded nurses."

According to Kathleen Walsh Spencer, DNP, RN, Oakland University Faculty Mentor, "Cynthia will be one of more than 1,000 Jonas Nurse Leader Scholars at 140 schools across all 50 states plus District of Columbia. Her online and face-to-face interactions with her peers in this prestigious cohort will be enriching for all of them. Cynthia's doctoral education at Oakland University and the leadership opportunities in the Jonas Scholar program will be a benefit to her future students and their patients."

Interim Dean Gary Moore agrees. "Filling the need for future faculty is vital. We are grateful to the Jonas Center for their part in addressing this critical need."

Moore is well aware of the difficulty in recruiting qualified faculty. He adds, "There is troubling data from the AACN showing that 2013 saw the lowest enrollment increase in professional RN programs in the past five years, primarily due to shortage in qualified faculty. Scholarships and financial awards such as these will allow more quality nurses to return for their doctorate degree."

As the recipient of the Jonas Center grant, the School of Nursing is part of a national effort to stem the faculty shortage and prepare future nurses as America's health care system continues to evolve.

The award was developed as a means to generate models for joint faculty appointments between nursing schools and clinical partners and educate greater numbers of nurse educators.

For more information on the Jonas Scholarship at Oakland University, contact Kathleen Walsh Spencer at kwspence@oakland.edu