SACRAMENTO — Sheridan Miyamoto and Deborah Greenwood, doctoral students at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis, were recently recognized among 50 nursing doctoral students nationwide by the Jonas Nurse Leaders Program.

The Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence's first national initiative, the Jonas Nurse Leaders Program, is designed to increase the number of doctorally prepared nurse educators and leaders. The nursing and nursing faculty shortage is a growing crisis. Despite a temporary reduction of demand due to the recession, the U.S. nursing shortage is projected to grow to 260,000 registered nurses nationwide by 2025. More than 43,000 prospective nursing students across the nation were turned away in 2009 because of too few faculty, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Miyamoto and Greenwood are two of 50 doctoral students funded by the Jonas Center at nearly two dozen of the nation's leading academic institutions. They are among eight inaugural doctoral students in the Nursing Science and Health-Care Leadership doctoral program at the new School of Nursing at UC Davis. Each student will receive a total of $18,000 over two years of study.

"Recognition from national thought leaders such as the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence is a great honor for our students," said Heather M. Young, associate vice chancellor for nursing, UC Davis Health System, and dean and professor, Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. "This opportunity will connect our students to a national network of future leaders and will add a unique dimension to their academic training."

Miyamoto, a family nurse practitioner, is a research project manager and health coach for one of the first research studies at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. She is exploring how telehealth technology can be used to help people in rural areas with diabetes adopt healthy behaviors. Prior to joining the school, she was the medical clearance exam program coordinator at UC Davis Medical Center's Child Adolescent Abuse Resource and Evaluation Diagnostic and Treatment Center.

Greenwood, a clinical nurse specialist, is the program coordinator for seven Sutter Health affiliate diabetes self-management education/training programs in Northern California. She serves on the Board of Directors for the American Association of Diabetes Educators.

Both students recently attended a gathering of the 50 Jonas Center scholarship recipients in Washington, D.C., where they met other scholars, nurse leaders and deans from schools of nursing across the nation.

"I am grateful to be part of the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence," Miyamoto said. "This support will enable me to pursue my interest in research that may ultimately lead to policy change aimed at improving the protection of the most vulnerable members of our society."

Greenwood's research interests involve the use of technology to improve access to care for people with and at risk for diabetes, to identify practices that improve outcomes for diverse and aging populations and to advance nursing education.

This is the first time the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence awarded scholarships to West Coast nursing schools.

About the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis: For 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matters to California and to transform the world. The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis was established in March 2009, UC Davis' first major initiative to address society's most pressing health-care problems in its second century of service. The school was launched through a $100 million commitment from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the nation's largest grant for nursing education. The vision of the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing is to transform health care through nursing education and research. Through nursing leadership, the school will discover knowledge to advance health, improve quality of care and health outcomes, and inform health policy. The school's first programs, a doctoral and a master's degree program, opened in fall 2010. Additional students and programs will be phased in over the next decade. The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing is part of the UC Davis Health System, an integrated, academic health system encompassing UC Davis School of Medicine, the 613-bed-acute-care hospital and clinical services of UC Davis Medical Center and the 800-member physician group known as the UC Davis Medical Group.