Saturday, April 5, 2025
4/5/2025
Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention - Workforce Expansion Program - UM-Flint’s efforts towards increasing the nursing workforce in rural and underserved communities as well as advancing cultural competencies is in concert with the National Academy of Medicine in its 2021 report: “Future of Nursing 2020-2030,” the U.S. Office of Minority Health (OMH) and other federal, state and private healthcare agencies and institutions. There is an abundance of research to support the stark reality that one of the major factors contributing to a lack of healthcare resources is the current nursing shortage with the state of Michigan listed as one of the ten states with the greatest nursing shortage. In addition, Healthy People 2030 addresses the importance of understanding the social determinants of health (SDOH) in improving the delivery of healthcare services. The University of Michigan-Flint Educates Rural Nurses (UM-FERN) project will contribute to community-wide efforts to improve the health of rural and medically underserved communities and support the elimination of health disparities related to SDOH. The purpose of the UM-FERN project is to increase the number of nurses practicing in acute and long-term care facilities in a rural area of Michigan (Huron, Lapeer, Sanilac, and Tuscola counties known as the Thumb Region) by increasing nursing education opportunities for individuals from these areas. UM-FERN will provide students with the skills and resources to successfully complete the accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program in the School of Nursing at the University of Michigan-Flint (UM-Flint). Specific Measurable Objectives: The four program objectives are directly linked to the program goals established by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and are to 1) increase the number of enrolled, retained, and graduated undergraduate BSN students from the rural Thumb Region of Michigan by providing funding for students to complete prerequisite courses for entry into the BSN program and funding support for students to complete the accelerated BSN pathway program; 2) develop opportunities for UM-FERN students to receive specialized training in acute and long-term care (LTC) settings in the Thumb Region of Michigan; 3) develop and launch UM-FERN program creating an ABSN program pathway to increase nursing workforce in rural and underserved areas in the Thumb Region of Michigan with a specific focus on addressing the shortage of nurses in acute and long-term care settings; and 4) establish dedicated clinical faculty and preceptors at acute and long-term care facilities in the rural Thumb Region of Michigan. UM-Flint requests a funding priority based on Priority 1: Michigan is one of the ten states with the greatest nursing shortage and a funding priority based on Priority 2: UM-Flint is a Public Entity. UM-Flint also requests a funding preference based on Qualification 1: Substantially Benefits Rural Populations in Michigan. How this will be done: This project proposes to expand upon our existing academic and clinical partnerships encompassing the four rural and underserved counties in Michigan’s Thumb Region (Huron, Lapeer, Sanilac, and Tuscola). UM-FERN will recruit and fund ABSN students from those counties. These ABSN students will be placed at clinical sites within these counties to increase the likelihood that they will obtain employment as a registered nurse (RN) in an acute or long-term care setting in one of these counties after graduation. A collaborative process with our community partners will be used to develop clinical sites and recruit students, clinical faculty, and preceptors from the Thumb Region. Wrap-around support services will be provided to UM-FERN students to ensure retention in the program through graduation. Deliberate steps will be taken to eliminate barriers to education for residents of the Thumb Region as identified by our program partners such as developing a distance classroom and a simulation lab in the Thumb Region.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).