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Sunset Rotary Club gives $2,500 to fund advanced education for nursing  The Sunset Rotary Club of Hilton Head Island contributed $2,500 to MUSC, enabling the College of Nursing to offer a scholarship to a nursing student from the Hilton Head area.   The donation will allow one nurse per year to continue his or her nursing education and pursue a baccalaureate or master’s degree through the college’s online learning program.   “The gift from Sunset Rotary Club comes at a critical time, when the nation is in the midst of a severe nursing shortage,” said Gail Stuart, Ph.D., R.N., the college’s dean. A 2005 report published by the Department of Health and Human Services projects a shortage of 29 percent or more than 800,000 registered nurses, including 6,741 in South Carolina, by the year 2020. “Unless this trend is reversed, the nursing shortage could have a devastating impact on the delivery of health care services in South Carolina and the nation as a whole,” said Stuart.   As one response to the nursing workforce crisis, the college instituted online learning programs that provide online learning programs that allow it to deliver its nursing curriculum in a cost-effective manner to students in off-site locations throughout the entire state of South Carolina. Since its inception in 2003, the online curriculum has helped nurses across the state obtain their baccalaureate degrees while remaining in their own communities.   “This is critically important since about three-fourths of registered nurses in the state have an associates degree. Many of these individuals wish to receive their baccalaureate degree in nursing but are constrained by work and family commitments,” said Stuart.   The Sunset Rotary Club hopes that its gift will inspire other rotary clubs in the state to take action and respond to the nursing shortage by supporting the online learning programs and other nursing initiatives as well.   “We are delighted to make this $2,500 donation and we look forward to meeting the nursing student who will benefit from the scholarship,” said Rotary Club President F. Truitt Rabun Jr.   Stuart is excited about the Sunset Rotary Club’s support of the college’s online learning program and what it means for the citizens of South Carolina.   “We are incredibly grateful for the Sunset Rotary Club’s contribution and for their support of nursing in South Carolina,” Stuart said. “This gift does more than provide one nurse with advanced learning opportunities. It also reveals the club’s dedication to the health and well-being of the citizens of South Carolina. For that we are most thankful.”     Friday, April 14, 2006 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island papers at 849-1778, ext. 201.