Address: 100 North Academy Ave, Danville, PA 17822 Project Director Name: Mindey Honey Contact Phone Numbers (Voice, Fax): 570-441-9725 Email Address: mlhoney@geisinger.edu Website Address: www.geisinger.org List all grant program funds requested in the application: $3,972,980 HHS Region: 3 Funding preference: Rural preference The purpose of the project is to take steps to fill the faculty/instructor gap existing in schools of nursing by leveraging staff nurses to participate as skilled preceptors and clinical instructors through the development of a comprehensive, self-guided training program. This program will produce skilled preceptor and clinical instructors (CIs) to enhance nursing education, increase the nursing workforce through growth in numbers of preceptors and clinical instructors thus increasing clinical rotation access, and enhance retention of the current inpatient workforce through professional development opportunities. These requested funds will allow for: 1. Creation of a substantive educational program for preceptor and clinical instructor training through collaboration of thought leaders from both institutions of higher education and health care organizations 2. Translation of the pedagogy to a learning management system for broad, standardized distribution designed for ease of use 3. Creation of an automated system for data collection and metric evaluation. 4. Offering of the education to: a. Institutions of higher education for use with their clinical instructors b. Health care organizations for use by their nursing staff to produce skilled preceptors and encourage the clinical instructor role 5. Broad piloting of a monetary reward system within a large health care organization to promote staff nurses to serve as preceptors and adjunct clinical instructors in partnership with regional institutions 6. Disseminate education program to the entire HHS Region 3 (PA, MD, DE, VA, WV, DC). The new skills, techniques, and kn
owledge will allow preceptors and CIs to enhance nursing education through the provision of elevated educational experiences. The course will provide participants with the confidence to assume these roles, thereby encouraging them to seek out these opportunities. In addition, the use of incentives by health care organizations to support and award their nursing staff for their work with nursing students will also encourage their educational participation. Creating a larger pool of preceptors and CIs will increase the nursing workforce by increasing the availability of preceptorships, as well as supporting the ability of nursing programs to provide clinical cohort education. In addition, the participating in the curriculum and incentive program will enhance retention of the current workforce through professional development and job satisfaction, contributing to wellness and mitigating burnout. A collaborative of more than 13 health care organization, academic nursing schools, and community partners from HHS Region 3 are collaborating to develop an Advisory Board that will inform the creation of CI and preceptor training programs. The education will be available upon registration online and courses will be learn-at-own-pace. Those who complete the course will receive a certification of their training. To encourage staff nurses to take on the roles of preceptor and CI, an incentive program will be piloted as a means to award staff initiative and show system support.