ST. LOUIS (Feb. 21, 2025) – When there's high demand for nurses, it’s vital to ensure we have enough nurse educators to train the next generation of our nursing workforce. Saint Louis University is one of several Missouri colleges and universities awarded grant funding to continue enhancing nursing education programs statewide.

Devita Stallings, Ph.D., associate dean of undergraduate and prelicensure education, and Deborah Horton, Ph.D., RN-BSN program coordinator at SLU’s Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing were awarded a two-year $334,117 grant from the Nursing Education Incentive Program from the Missouri State Board of Nursing.

With this funding, Stallings and Horton plan to expand the capacity of the School of Nursing to assist nurses with associate degrees, particularly those currently teaching in practical and associate degree nursing programs, as they pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing and continue a streamlined pathway to a master’s degree in nursing program.  

“We want to help aspiring nurses and nurse educators move through the education pipeline,” Stallings said. This will help us recruit more nurses to stay in Missouri and to teach in our programs at SLU,” Stallings said.  

The grant will support seven nurses with full tuition and a technology stipend for RNs accepted to the RN-BSN program option each year of the two-year grant. This investment in training nurse educators means nursing schools can increase enrollment, maintain low student-to-teacher ratios, and supervise clinical training, an essential practical experience for nursing students.  

“This collaborative effort can help ensure that there are enough qualified educators to train the next generation of nurses, thereby enhancing health care delivery in the region,” Horton said. 

To learn more about SLU’s Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing, visit here.

About Valentine School of Nursing

Founded in 1928, Saint Louis University School of Nursing has achieved a national reputation for its innovative and pioneering programs. Offering bachelor's, master's, and doctoral nursing programs, its faculty members are nationally recognized for their teaching, research and clinical expertise. 

About Saint Louis University

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious Catholic research institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers more than 15,300 students a rigorous, transformative education that challenges and prepares them to make the world a better place. As a nationally recognized leader in research and innovation, SLU is an R1 research university, advancing groundbreaking, life-changing discoveries that promote the greater good.