The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced in September the names of the 12 nursing faculty from across the country who were selected to participate in its nurse faculty scholars program this year. Each nurse faculty scholar receives a three-year $350,000 grant to pursue research.

Among those chosen was Anna Beeber, RN, PhD, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, who developed the research project “Developing Best Nursing Practices in Assisted Living.”

The award is given to junior faculty who show outstanding promise as future leaders in academic nursing.

“The generous support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will enable me to describe staffing practices in assisted living communities and understand how organizations that provide these services can make the best use of their resources, including nurses and other healthcare employees,” Beeber said in a news release. “This information will help ensure that assisted living residents receive optimal long-term care.”

The RWJF nurse faculty scholars program is helping to curb the shortage by helping more junior faculty succeed in, and commit to, academic careers and strives to increase the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of nursing by fostering leadership skills among scholars to recruit and retain diverse faculties and student bodies at their schools of nursing.

To receive the award, scholars must be registered nurses who have completed a research doctorate in nursing or a related discipline and who have held a tenure-eligible faculty position at an accredited nursing school for at least two and no more than five years.

For a complete list of this year’s scholars, visit RWJF.org/newsroom.