Nursing Workforce Development (NWD) - The University of San Francisco (USF) School of Nursing and Health Professions (SONHP) requests $555,000 per year for four years ($2,220,000 total) under the Nursing Workforce Development program to increase the number of registered nurses (RNs) entering the workforce of California and the western United States by recruiting, retaining, and graduating Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students from disadvantaged backgrounds. For this project, disadvantaged students are those who are first-generation college students, economically disadvantaged, and/or geographically disadvantaged, including students from rural communities; race and ethnicity are not used as selection criteria. Need: California faces the largest projected RN shortage of any state (about 22% by 2038), and the deepest gaps are in rural and medically vulnerable areas of Northern California, the Central Valley, and the broader West. Nationally, nursing schools turn away tens of thousands of qualified applicants each year, constrained by faculty and clinical-preceptor shortages that are especially severe in the West. Cost, first-generation transition barriers, and geographic distance keep capable students from completing nursing education and entering practice. Project: Nursing Workforce Pathways implements a comprehensive systems approach that follows students along one connected pathway (Reach, Enroll, Retain, Graduate, Practice), supported by three interlocking pillars: (1) recruitment and financial support that lowers the economic barrier to entry; (2) coordinated academic, social, and financial student-support services (tutoring, mentoring, progression monitoring, NCLEX-RN readiness, financial-literacy education, and the Cope2Thrive© program) that carry students from matriculation through licensure and employment; and (3) strengthened faculty and preceptor capacity plus rural and medically vulnerable clinical training partnerships that expand placements and connect graduates to high-need settings. Approximately 79% of the budget directly supports trainees, well above the 30% minimum: the project awards $25,000 scholarships to 17 students per year (68 over four years), plus emergency/retention aid. Objectives: (1) Increase the number of disadvantaged-background students who enroll in and graduate from the BSN program; (2) Establish or enhance academic, social, and financial supports to increase educational success; and (3) Recruit and retain faculty and preceptors to strengthen learning environments. Populations and partners: The project serves first-generation, economically disadvantaged, and rural BSN students, and the rural and medically vulnerable communities that will gain locally rooted RNs. SONHP draws on more than 100 clinical sites and long-standing academic-practice partnerships, including the San Francisco Department of Public Health/SF Health Network and Alameda Health System, with expanding relationships in Marin County and California's Central Valley." "Outcomes: Increased enrollment, retention, and on-time graduation; NCLEX-RN pass rates at or above SONHP's benchmark (a ten-year average of 90%); and increased graduate placement into shortage-designated, rural, and medically vulnerable areas. The application requests funding preferences for substantially benefiting medically vulnerable populations and for helping meet public health nursing needs in state and local health departments."
