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A generous endowment from The Joyce Family Foundation will provide vital financial support to Queen’s School of Nursing students amid Ontario's rising demand for nurses. 

The $2-million gift to establish The Joyce Family Foundation Clinical Placement Bursary for students in the will expand access to practicum placements through annual travel and accommodations coverage for select second-, third-, and fourth-year undergraduates, enabling them to gain valuable experience beyond the city of Kingston. 

“On behalf of The Joyce Family Foundation I am proud to announce a new collaboration with Queen’s University,” said Sandy McDonald, Queen's Meds'77 and Trustee, The Joyce Family Foundation. “This gift is given to support undergraduate nursing students who incur significant costs for travelling for clinical placements, ultimately increasing graduation rates and ensuring our future caregivers can focus on their training and in the communities they serve.” 

is renowned for its dedication to education and community support. Their gift marks the second-largest endowment in the history of the School of Nursing.   

“This gift from The Joyce Family Foundation is a crucial investment in experiential learning for nursing students and will enable them to develop hands-on skills and knowledge,” says Dr. Jane Philpott, Dean of Queen's Health Sciences. “This endowment will support a diversity of training opportunities, including student placements in community health, long-term care, medical surgery, maternity, pediatrics, and public health. One of our priorities is to have clinical impact in communities and this will stretch our impact, both in terms of geography and fields of health care.” 

Despite the expansion of nursing program seats at Queen’s, the availability of health placements in Kingston isn't always enough to meet the needs of every new nursing cohort. Many students experience financial challenges when they seek placements outside Kingston, a hurdle this fund aims to address. 

 “Canada urgently needs more nurses. Queen’s University has answered this call – increasing the number of seats in our nursing programs and investing in additional supports to ensure that our graduates are ready and able to provide the very best person-centred care to their communities,” says Dr. Erna Snelgrove-Clarke, Vice-Dean of Queen’s Health Sciences and Director of the School of Nursing. “This generous gift from The Joyce Family Foundation enables Queen’s nursing undergraduate students to flourish by removing barriers to accessing practicum placements across Ontario.”