Nurses wanted: that’s what the Alabama Nursing Home Association Education Foundation is saying.

Yesterday, the organization along with the Alabama Community College System announced a plan to grant 44 scholarships to state two-year college students who want to become licensed practical nurses. Each community college in the state that has a licensed nursing program will be given two scholarships to award to students. The scholarship provides $500 a semester to each student, a total of $1,000 per academic year.

The dean of nursing, dean of students and financial aid director of each institution chooses the recipients of the award.

“Licensed practical nurses are very important to the operation of nursing homes and are the helping hands that provide our residents with a high quality of care,” Louis Cottrell, ANHA Education Foundation secretary-treasurer, said. “Our foundation is glad to provide a helping hand to Alabamians who are working toward improving their lives, and are interested in the health care profession.”

Students must meet certain requirements to be eligible to apply for the scholarship, however. Students must be an Alabama resident enrolled in a public two-year college, have completed a semester in an LPN program with a 2.5 GPA, must perform clinicals at a long-term care facility and complete the scholarship application and demonstrate financial need.

To apply for the LPN scholarship, you must contact your director of nursing at any eligible Alabama two-year college.

Nurses are some of the most important people that you will come in contact with at a hospital or nursing home. In fact, they could be more important than your doctors especially when it comes to administering treatments. They are the people who interact directly with patients on a daily basis. Sometimes, nurses are the only people that a patient might see every day.

In America today, there is a large shortage of nurses. Everyone needs more, and that includes nursing homes. We think this plan should help to meet that need, and we hope many local residents will take advantage of this opportunity.