Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention - Transition to Practice Program - The Nylen School of Nursing and Health Sciences (NSON) at Morningside University, located in Sioux City, Iowa, will implement the Community-Oriented Nursing, Navigation, Engagement, Clinical Training, and Career Advancement through Rural Experiences project (Project CONNECT CARE). The project will substantially benefit rural populations as well as medically underserved areas and populations in rural Iowa and Nebraska communities, where nursing shortages are particularly acute. Project CONNECT CARE addresses the critical need to increase training for nursing students to become proficient in serving rural and medically vulnerable populations, the need for stronger pipelines and pathways to nursing training programs, and the need for additional supports and resources to ensure that nursing trainees successfully progress and graduate. Project CONNNECT CARE is an innovative, competency-based nursing education initiative that will increase the number of exceptionally prepared nurses through an enhanced, competency-based nursing education program. In order to attract and enroll health care workers with hands-on experience and a demonstrated interest in care delivery, the project will develop and implement pathways that recruit, enroll, support, train, and retain Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) into the NSON’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program through multiple pipelines. Project CONNECT CARE will expand community-based clinical partnerships, enhance faculty and preceptor development, and provide multiple levels of student support to promote student progression and success, including financial assistance, mentoring, tutoring, and other resources. Defining features of Project CONNECT CARE are: 1) its emphasis on providing competency-based education, which ensures that every graduate can consistently demonstrate the knowledge, skills, values, and professional behaviors required for safe and effective nursing practice; 2) experiential learning opportunities through training in traditional and non-traditional community-based health care settings; and 3) its embrace of simulation technologies, which are crucial to enhance competency development, clinical judgment, communication, care coordination, and interprofessional collaboration prior to and throughout community-based clinical experiences. Simulation initiatives will incorporate high-fidelity simulation, standardized patients, immersive and virtual simulation technologies, wearable patient simulators, structured debriefing, and competency-based performance assessments. The Project CONNECT CARE cohort served by the Project will entail 1) all BSN students at the NSON, consisting of second, third, and fourth year students, estimated at 90 students; and 2) 15 CNAs annually who join the BSN program via a CNA-BSN pathway. Project CONNECT CARE activities and priorities are strongly aligned with Make American Healthy Again priorities such as disease prevention, wellness, and chronic disease management. NSON is committed to preparing BSN graduates who are practice-ready, adaptable, and fully equipped to meet the evolving healthcare needs of patients, particularly those in surrounding rural and medically underserved communities.
