Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) proposes to create the WesternU-Faculty Academy Region 9 (WU-FAR9), consisting of academic-clinical-community partnerships, which develops and implements formal nurse education training curriculum used to train clinical nursing faculty and preceptors. The WU-FAR9 Consortium’s collaborative partnerships include WesternU’s College of Graduate Nursing, HealthImpact, a California-based organization dedicated to promoting a dynamic, well-prepared healthcare workforce, and San Antonio Regional Hospital (SARH), a community hospital and clinical site for multiple schools of nursing in HHS Region 9. WU-FAR9 will address the nursing educator shortage throughout the region by implementing the Recruitment/Retention Plan with strategies for effective recruiting, training, and providing guidance and connective supportive services for 416 clinical nurse educators, 416 directors of nursing education, plus 100 front line preceptors by September 2026. With additional staff available as faculty and preceptors funded by this grant, more nursing applicants can be accepted into, mentored, and graduate from, nursing programs. We are targeting clinical nursing faculty and preceptors associated with ADN, BSN, and MSN-E pre-licensure programs that educate tomorrow’s workforce. The WU-FAR9 project proposes to contribute to the readiness of clinical faculty or preceptors offering multiple educational options with five (5) courses to augment the formal clinical nursing education required by the Boards of Nursing. The WU-FAR9 course offerings include: I. Clinical Faculty/ Educator (CF/E) Certificate Program (30 CE hrs.) Virtual; II.CF/E Train-the Trainer Program (16 CE hrs.) In-Person – Prerequisite: I; III. Nurse Preceptor Educator Certificate Program (16 CE hrs.) Virtual – Prerequisite: I; IV. Nurse Preceptor Educator Train-the-Trainer Program (8 CE hrs.) In Person – Prerequisite: I & III; and V. Preceptor Certificate Pr
ogram (16 CE hrs.)- Virtual – Open to Preceptor – No Prerequisite. Course I CF/E Certificate is a Prerequisite for Courses II, III, IV. We anticipate 75% (699) of participants will acquire Master Trainer-the-Trainer licenses, as a result, exponentially increasing the number of well-trained nursing faculty and preceptors. WU-FAR9 will provide virtual and in-person education to clinical faculty, clinical educators, and preceptors to improve their teaching, based on the latest neuro and learning sciences and on the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s seminal study, Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation, led by Dr. Patricia Benner. The legacy potential of this project offers real-world solutions for training clinical nurse faculty and preceptors. As the lead organization, WesternU is ready – upon award – to implement, manage, and coordinate efforts to operate the WU-FAR9 serving Region 9. WU-FAR9 was carefully developed with a smooth implementation and project sustainability in mind. WU-FAR9 will deliver formal nursing education for clinical faculty and preceptor training offering 1,407 total training course seats for 932 total participants to increase the knowledge and skill-sets of nursing clinical faculty and preceptors, in-person at locations within HHS Region 9 throughout the grant from Sept. 2022 to Sept. 2026. WU-FAR9 participants will access supportive services to improve resiliency and well-being to prevent burnout. (4-year). Post-training employment opportunities within partnering clinical sites. Enhance/create new academic-clinical preceptor development through an evidenced-based training curricula, testing with SARH, using RCQI process; tracking of participants, retention; and identify approaches to enhance overall learning experience, address cultural awareness, SDOH, health equity, and health literacy (4-years). WesternU qualifies for Substantially Benefits Underserved Populations funding preference.