Nursing Workforce Development (NWD) - Nightingale Foundation proposes the Interconnected Alaska RN Nursing Workforce Development Program. The purpose of this program is to recruit, retain, graduate, and increase the number of registered nurses (RN) from disadvantaged backgrounds who deliver health care services to rural and medically underserved communities in the state of Alaska. This will be accomplished through targeted student recruitment in the state of Alaska in rural and Medically Underserved Areas, retaining students from disadvantaged backgrounds by removing financial barriers to accessing education via a scholarship and financial assistance program, and graduating students with a pathway to local employment via partnerships with healthcare systems and facilities throughout the state. This program aims to provide Alaskan students from disadvantaged backgrounds with the education and holistic support needed to graduate and practice as an RN, therefore increasing the strength of the local nursing workforce, improving health conditions for individuals and communities, and increasing healthcare access and outcomes for rural and Medically Underserved Areas. The proposed project seeks to address critical nursing shortage in Alaska by 2030. Key project outcomes include increasing the number of individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds who are enrolled in nursing degree programs using evidence-based strategies, increasing the number of nursing students who are retained and graduate from nursing degree programs, increasing the number of students who receive academic, social and financial support for educational success in nursing degree programs, and increasing nursing workforce development opportunities in rural areas. In addition, the proposed project seeks to create a high-quality education experience through the recruitment and retention of faculty and preceptors from varied backgrounds. Nightingale Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization will be the project lead, will support the Project Director directly, and will collaborate with Nightingale College (project team). To meet direct social and educational support needs, the project team will also collaborate with healthcare partners in Alaska, including enhancing Nightingale College’s existing partnerships with 18 clinical healthcare sites across Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau. Nightingale Foundation will manage and distribute scholarship funding and financial assistance to target populations to increase the recruitment, retention, and graduation of nursing students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This project will target the state of Alaska, with a specific focus on the rural and Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) of Juneau, Fairbanks, and Anchorage Boroughs, and target recruitment and retainment of students across the state of Alaska including those who reside in more remote and rural parts of the state such as the Kenai Peninsula and Mat-Su Boroughs. This project is requesting the funding preference of “Substantially Benefits Rural Populations” as all geographic regions listed have qualifying rural areas by HRSA’s Rural HealthGrants Eligibility Analyzer, the results of which can be found in Attachment 6.
