Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention - Workforce Expansion Program - Founded in 1935 as the first baccalaureate nursing program in Illinois, Loyola University Chicago, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing (LUC MNSON) has prepared over 10,000 nurses to assume leadership in health care and in the profession of nursing. We propose to continue our track record of excellence in acute and long-term health care in designated rural areas through the “Nursing – Providing Access to Rural Acute and Long-Term Healthcare (N-PARALTH)” project. The N-PARALTH project will increase the number of nursing students retained and graduated from (LUC MNSON, increase the number of nursing students receiving additional specialized training in rural acute and long-term care settings, increase the number of new graduates from LUC MNSON employed in rural acute and long-term care settings and increase the number of preceptors and clinical faculty prepared to educate LUC MNSON students in rural settings. This project will be accomplished through the following N-PARALTH objectives: Objective 1: Create a Rural Health Care Nursing Scholar (RHCNS) program beginning in the student’s first year of nursing education and lasting throughout their BSN education which focuses on evidence-based knowledge, skills and attitudes for the care of rural residents in acute and long-term care facilities. The RHCNS program will be open to four-year nursing students, accelerated nursing students, including both hybrid and face-to-face nursing students. Objective 2: Enhance and expand partnerships with nurses in rural long-term care and acute care settings providing care for rural, underserved populations including Bennett County Critical Access Hospital, Martin, South Dakota, Indian Health Service Hospital in Pine Ridge, South Dakota and designated critical access hospitals and long-term care facilities in designated rural counties of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan through the delivery of continued professional development for practicing RNs. As stated in the HRSA publication “Nurse Workforce Projections, 2021-2036” Michigan is one of the ten states with the greatest shortages. Objective 3: Create and pilot-test a rural, acute care and long-term care, asynchronous, module-based educational program for baccalaureate nursing education that can be replicated by other schools of nursing interested in expanding their educational programming to address rural acute care and long-term care. Modules developed for the N-PARALTH project will address current rural health issues emphasizing skill building in evidenced–based interventions. In addition, strategies will be used to encourage graduates to select rural health care as a geographical location to provide health care upon graduation with a focus in acute and long-term care nursing as a specialty. The four paths (Pre-professional, Preceptor, Patient, and Population) of Loyola’s current PATH Model will organize the project activities. The Pre-professional Path (i.e. student) will include curriculum integrating rural health care with online, hybrid and simulated content, reflective journaling, small group and face-to-face classroom/workshop education, and service immersion experiences in rural sites. The Preceptor Path will provide training for preceptors and faculty in rural health care, acute and long-term care ensuring that registered nurses have the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to care for rural populations. The Patient Path will focus on assessing rural patient needs and the development of educational and cultural interventions to support patients in maintaining their highest level of function. The Population Path will incorporate theory and practice in rural nursing and health care with proposed interventions. A statutory Funding Preference is requested on the basis of projects that substantially benefit rural populations and the state of Michigan.
