A nursing scholarship program targeted at Latino high school students will be launched this fall at Georgia Perimeter College. It is believed to be the first program of its kind in the Southeast.

The Hispanic RN program, a collaborative initiative with Georgia Perimeter College School of Nursing, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and HCASoutheast Division, was created to increase the number of Hispanic nurses in metro Atlanta, providing financial and educational support to qualified Hispanic high school students, said Sissy Stevinson, Southeast HCA vice president of human resources.

HCA has committed to providing $115,000 over the next three years for scholarships, and is funding staff for a tutorial lab as well as clinical faculty in the second and third years of the program. The entire partnership will total approximately $250,000 over three years, she said.

"This is the first such program in the Southeast and we're very excited about it," said Elizabeth (Jean) Mistretta, Ph.D., RN, chair of the department of nursing at Georgia Perimeter College. Ten Hispanic nursing students will be selected for the scholarships and will attend GPC this fall.

The scholarships will be administered by the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. Candidates must have parents who are half or full Hispanic, speak English, be a U.S. citizen or legal resident alien and live at home.

In addition, they must meet the academic requirements for admission to GPC including at least a 3.0 GPA, and apply to and be accepted into the nursing program at Georgia Perimeter College.

Students will receive $2,000 for the first year and $4,000 each for the second and third years. They must renew their eligibility each year.

All classes will be taught at the GPC Gwinnett campus in Lawrenceville. In exchange for this assistance, students will be asked to make a two-year commitment to work at an HCA facility after graduation.

For scholarship applications, go to www.hsf.net and click on HCA scholarships.

The deadline for submissions is June 1 and scholarships will be applicable for the fall 2004 quarter.

For information, contact Mistretta at jmistret@gpc.edu.

Do you have any story ideas for Pulse? Please e-mail or call 404-373-5131.