Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention - Transition to Practice Program - Stony Brook School of Nursing, in partnership with two rural hospitals and Federally Qualified Health Centers, proposes Rural Integration & Success for Emerging (RISE) Nurses Pathway, Nurse Education, Practice, Quality, and Retention–Transition to Practice Program (NEPQR–TPP) initiative designed to increase the nursing workforce serving rural communities in Eastern Long Island, New York. The project addresses nursing shortages, limited transition–to–practice supports, inadequate exposure to community–based care settings, and shortages of qualified preceptors in rural communities. RISE Nurses Pathway directly aligns with NEPQR–TPPs goal of strengthening the nursing workforce through innovative pathways and competency–based training that prepares nursing graduates to practice in non–traditional community–based settings. The project recruits, educates, retains, graduates, and transitions BS–prepared nurses into rural practice while simultaneously developing sustainable workforce and preceptor pipelines. A signature innovation of the project is the Structured Transition and Experiential Practice– Immersion for Nurses (STEP–IN) model, a competency–based longitudinal framework consisting of two pathways: STEP–IN Start for entry–to–practice students enrolled in the Basic Baccalaureate Program and STEP–IN Advance for Associate Degree–prepared RNs enrolled in the RN–to–BS Program. Each pathway incorporates three progressive stages focused on orientation, experiential learning, simulation–enhanced training, mentorship and workforce transition. STEP–IN Start participants complete an additional 160 hours of direct patient care in rural settings and STEP–IN Advance participants complete 100 hours of direct patient care in population health and community–based experiences integrated into the RN–to–BS curriculum. The project establishes competency–based educational pathways that incorporate instruction, assessment, competency validation and progression aligned with American Association of Colleges of Nursing Essentials, the Interprofessional Education Collaborative framework, and International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning Standards of Best Practice. Shared rural curriculum and simulation experiences intentionally support Make America Healthy Again priorities by emphasizing disease prevention, wellness promotion, proper nutrition, obesity prevention, chronic disease self–management, strong families and communities, personal responsibility, and access to high–quality physical and mental health care. Simulation–based training is integrated with experiential learning opportunities in a variety of health care settings beyond standard clinical rotations. Simulation technologies strengthen clinical judgment, communication, teamwork, leadership, and transition–to–practice readiness through rural focused health needs scenarios. To strengthen pathways into nursing careers, the project recruits and supports individuals with prior health care experience. Participants receive individualized academic advising, formal mentorship, competency–based progression, credit–for–prior–learning, stipends, and flexible learning pathways to reduce barriers to educational advancement. The project also includes the Preceptor and Academic Validation for Excellence (PAVE) initiative, an innovative clinical–to–academic faculty pipeline designed specifically to strengthen the rural nursing workforce. PAVE optimizes degree progression for practicing registered nurses by implementing a rigorous Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) framework. Through this validation pathway, nurses earning their BS degrees receive formal academic credit for competencies demonstrated in clinical practice or completed during structured nurse residencies. Concurrently, the initiative establishes a sustainable faculty pipeline via a dedicated Preceptor Academy, offering continuing education credits to cultivate the next generation of rural clinical educators and leaders.
