Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention - Transition to Practice Program - The NEPQR-Transition to Practice Program award will provide the Irene Ransom Bradley School of Nursing (IRBSON) Pittsburg State University (PSU), Pittsburg, KS, a vital opportunity to strengthen the nursing workforce and expand access to care for rural and medically vulnerable communities. Because of the rural nature of Southeast Kansas (SEK) and its bordering states, the IRBSON emphasizes family health care and concerns of rural, and medically vulnerable communities. The mission of the BSN program is to increase the number of registered nurses available for the rural underserved areas/populations in rural areas of KS with a focus on extreme SEK and 24 contiguous counties in MO, OK, and AR (the Four States), all of which are classified as rural and are in HRSA-designated HPSAs. This project will prepare RN-BSN nursing students who are practice-ready to provide high-quality patient care in rural areas and will expand and enhance the workforce through the development of nursing pathways and a competency-based curriculum; expand community and clinical training partnerships in rural/medically vulnerable areas of the Four States Region; provide faculty/preceptor training and support; and expand experiential learning through the use of simulation-based technology to enhance academic practice. The support to students will include financial assistance; academic and peer support, including tutoring, supplemental instruction, and remediation; mentoring through a formal mentorship program. The project focuses on the need to provide support for a pathway to nursing for 88 CNA or LPN to associate degree nurses from Fort Scott Community College to PSU’s RN-BSN program, with the goal of recruiting, retaining, and graduating students from rural and medically vulnerable populations facing socioeconomic barriers. The nursing workforce shortage is plainly visible as SEK is categorized as a nursing care desert, experiencing a critical deficit in direct care workers and advanced practice nurses. While national RN vacancy rates hover around 8.6%, the Four-State region sits noticeably higher: 10-14%. Although the traineeship funding focuses on the RN to BSN pathway students (22 per funding year), the pre-licensure BSN students and RN to BSN students will also benefit from the competency-based educational curricular changes, the community-based clinical experiences, and the simulation educational offerings. An overwhelming majority of PSU undergraduate nursing students are from disadvantaged backgrounds and are at risk of poor completion and success; nonetheless, PSU has a record of success regarding retention: a 3-year average of less than 1%. This project will increase recruitment and retention of faculty and preceptors to provide student mentorship and enhance learning environments by recruiting faculty from the same disadvantaged backgrounds as students who are recruited. This project will enhance academic, social, and financial support to pathway students and increase educational success for nursing students from rural and medically vulnerable backgrounds through student support services and preceptorships. This project uses evidence-based strategies such as pipeline programs from seven community colleges and comprehensive student support services at PSU. Clinical partnership agreements are in place with several area hospitals, health systems, and clinics. The focus of this proposal is a pathway program with FSCC involving the CNAs and LPNs. However, it is significant that the IRBSON collaborates with SEK community college nursing programs, as well as community colleges in neighboring states, MO, AR, and OK, to facilitate seamless articulation from the associate degree to the baccalaureate degree; academic agreements are in place with seven community colleges as a pipeline program. A Funding Preference (Qualification 3) is requested: practice collaboration with a local health department, the Crawford County Health Department. Request: $2,992,270
