Nursing Workforce Development (NWD) - Need. Populations residing in rural and medically vulnerable areas are confronted with many healthcare issues and barriers to needed care. These barriers are compounded by the lack of nurses from similar disadvantaged backgrounds that are prepared to address the needs of such populations. To compound the issue further is the inability of nursing programs to take many students due to faculty and preceptor shortage and preparation. Purpose. The purpose of this project, Community Care-Nursing Workforce Development (CC-NWD), is to increase the overall workforce/number of nurses from disadvantaged backgrounds who are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) to meet the unique healthcare needs of rural and medically vulnerable populations. Specifically, the CC-NWD goals aligned with the HRSA Workforce Development Program are to 1) increase the number of nurses from disadvantaged backgrounds enrolled in and graduating from the School of Nursing’s (SoN) RN>BSN, traditional BSN, and APRN programs (family-FNP, psychiatric mental health-PMHNP, and pediatric-PNP), 2) expand our academic-community-clinical partnerships (ACCPs) that enable our students to participate in clinical experiences/experiential learning with rural/medically vulnerable populations, and 3) increase the total numbers of faculty and preceptors from varied backgrounds and experience with the KSAs to provide high-quality instruction, mentorship, and support for our students from disadvantaged backgrounds, preparing them to care for rural/medically vulnerable populations. This program will be carried out by the CC-NWD Team that consists of the Project Director, Project Manager, 4 Program Track Coordinators, Academic Success Coach, Telehealth Coordinator, ACCP Liaison, Evaluation Director, and Marketing Director. They will be supported by Stakeholders from the area public schools, community college, and foodbank. Proposed Services. Programs will focus first on recruitment and retention of nursing students (NWD Scholars) from disadvantaged backgrounds. Strategies will include 1) recruitment - a robust marketing/advertising program (i.e., social media, conference and recruitment programs, pipelines, clinical experiences, word of mouth) with in-kind support from SoN’s Marketing Director, 2) retention - academic support/tutoring, mental and physical health support, monthly NWD Scholars program for peer and academic support, an Academic Success Coach, and connections with professional organizations, 3) rotations with rural/medically vulnerable populations in the SoN Community Care clinical sites, and 4) financial support/stipends. Services will be integrated into the ODU-CC Clinics in Rural and Medically Vulnerable Areas where students from varying educational levels 1) participate in clinical experiences, 2) develop KSAs on healthcare needs/delivery of this population, and 3) work collaboratively learning about each other’s roles and responsibilities. Faculty and preceptors will be recruited and trained to 1) mentor and support students across educational level on their roles in caring for rural and medically vulnerable populations and 2) provide standardized experiential learning during pop-up clinics allowing for evaluation and support of student learning. Evaluation will occur through Rapid Cycle Quality Improvement processes. Population Served. Students will address prevention and acute and chronic conditions with adults seen in the Foodbank Clinic and Children in the School-Based Health Clinic. Pop-up clinics will be provided to address specific issues within the community and evaluate students on specific clinical care. Examples include patients needing school physical exams and immunizations or women’s health visits. Additional pop-up clinics will provide specialty care such as asthma in children via telehealth from specialty pulmonary programs at a distance. Populations served will reside in a HRSA designated rural/medically vulnerable area.
