Nursing scholarships for aged care

South Australia's largest aged care provider has joined forces with the University of Adelaide as a 75th anniversary gift to help one of the state's fastest growth sectors - an ageing population.

Resthaven Incorporated, an aged care community service of the Uniting Church that has been operating since 1935, will support 10 scholarships for full-time nursing students at the University of Adelaide.

The scholarships, on offer from 2011, are open to both undergraduate and postgraduate nursing students and are the first for the University's Discipline of Nursing program.

Discipline Head Professor Alison Kitson said the scholarships would help ensure that the state's older people were given the best possible care by highly qualified professionals.

"South Australia has the oldest population in the country, with almost 16% of the state's residents aged 65 or older," Professor Kitson said.

"Trends indicate that in the next 25 years this sector will grow three times as fast as the younger population, so it's imperative we attract excellent students into aged care nursing.

"The University welcomes the generous support of Resthaven in helping us to meet demand."

This year the Discipline of Nursing celebrates a special milestone - 15 years of teaching, learning, research and achievements that continue to transform health care in Adelaide and internationally.

Resthaven CEO Richard Hearn said the 75th anniversary of his service in 2010 provided an opportunity to celebrate and affirm the work of its staff, volunteers, carers and family members within Resthaven.

"We are excited to provide eight undergraduate and two postgraduate scholarships for students in their second and final year of Nursing at the University of Adelaide over the period 2011-2014," he said.

The undergraduate scholarships are valued at $10,000 each and the postgraduate scholarships are $5000 each.

For more information, go to: www.adelaide.edu.au/scholarships