The University of New England in Biddeford, Maine, has received a $2 million gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder Foundation for a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program.
The program aims to bolster the behavioral health workforce in Maine, which is home to the oldest and most rapidly aging population in the country, according to a Sept. 19 news release. Maine is also experiencing an increase in immigrant and refugee communities.
UNE is looking to enroll 15 students in the program annually with the goal of supplementing the state's limited number of psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners. New initiatives for the program include creation of an innovative learning laboratory that will focus on social determinants of mental health.
Students in the program will also have access to the Interprofessional Simulation and Innovation Center, which includes a virtual reality nursing simulation and will be expanded to include psychiatric and mental health clinical scenarios.