For many potential nursing students, scholarships can make critical differences in turning career aspirations into realities. Desmond was one of those students.

Now a senior nursing student at Indiana University, South Bend, School of Nursing in South Bend, Ind., Desmond received a nursing scholarship from the Foundation of the National Student Nurses’ Association (FNSNA), supported by Johnson & Johnson, that enabled him to realize his dream of becoming a nurse. A dream he’s had since he was seven years old.

Desmond’s optimism and passion for his future role helping others continues to buoy him as he prepares to join the largest segment of healthcare workers globally: nurses.

Nurses play a critical role on the front lines of patient care and have the capacity to positively impact health issues around the world. Our healthcare system and patient care level are made better each day by the work nurses do. Their dedication and skill makes a difference in the lives of their patients and their families in countless ways.

We believe in nursing.

This year marks the 15-year anniversary of the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing, a sustained initiative which has demonstrated significant impact by helping to recruit new nurses and nurse faculty, retain nurses currently in the profession, and enhance the image of nursing as a profession in the US. Since 2002, the Campaign has provided more than $20 million to dedicated grants and nursing scholarships, enabling students like Desmond and numerous others to not just dream, but pursue the nursing careers they’ve always imagined.

But our work is far from done. We need many more nurses. In fact, there will be a nursing shortage of 1 million nurses by 2022, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Projections 2012-2022. This shortage will be caused by the rate of retiring nurses, aging baby-boomers, and increased nursing needs tied to healthcare delivery. Nursing students like Desmond represent the next generation of nurses. They are the future contributors and critical change-makers to the global healthcare dynamic.

Visit DiscoverNursing.com to learn more about the nursing profession and help support our future healthcare workforce by opening the door to the next generation of nurses with nursing school scholarship funding via the Johnson & Johnson Donate a Photo app.

Learn more about how you can join Johnson & Johnson and Global Citizen in moving the world forward.