Saturday, April 5, 2025
4/5/2025
Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention - Workforce Expansion Program - ABSTRACT INCREASING RURAL GEORGIA’S NURSING WORKFORCE Southern Crescent Technical College (SCTC) proposes a project titled “Increasing Rural Georgia’s Nursing Workforce.” The project will expand SCTC’s current LPN/Paramedic-RN Fast Track Bridge Program into two rural Georgia counties – Butts and Jasper. These new programs will enroll 80 students per year and, over the four years of the grant period, will produce approximately 320 new undergraduate nursing students with 80 hours of specialized training in acute and long-term care settings. In addition to increasing the nursing workforce through the Bridge program, SCTC will incorporate 80 hours of specialized training in acute and long-term care settings into its other undergraduate nursing programs including CNA-LPN and the Associate Degree in Nursing (ASN) program, assuring that SCTC nursing graduates are prepared to help address the nursing workforce shortages in Georgia – specifically in these facilities. The grant request of $997,148 for each grant period year will yield at least 320 new nursing students over the grant period at a per student cost of only $12,464. The current LPN/Paramedic-RN Fast Track Bridge Program will be expanded to serve students who live in rural Butts and Jasper counties and support the acute and long-term care facilities in those communities. SCTC will build on existing partnerships and establish new partnerships with these facilities to develop nurse externships which will include stipends for nursing students who are receiving 80 hours of specialized training in acute and long-term care. This enhancement will bring more nursing students into these facilities, provide financial support for the students, and ensure that more nursing graduates are ready to help meet the nursing shortages in the region. SCTC is located in Georgia – one of the top 10 states with the greatest nursing shortages. SCTC is also a public entity. Therefore, SCTC requests consideration for Funding Priorities: 1) Priority 1: States with the Greatest Nursing Shortages (2 points); and Priority 2: Public Entities (2 points). SCTC has provided (in Attachment 6) a document to support this request. SCTC also meets one of the three Funding Preferences – specifically – “Substantially Benefits Rural Populations.” The projects’ two clinical sites are located in Butts and Jasper counties in Georgia. SCTC has attached output from HRSA’s Rural Health Grants Analyzer Tool as evidence that these two counties are designated as rural. Therefore, SCTC requests consideration for Funding Preferences.
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).