Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention - Workforce Expansion Program - Samford University’s Moffett & Sanders School of Nursing (MSSON) proposes to establish and enhance academic-clinical partnerships in acute and long-term care settings to improve training for baccalaureate nursing students. Evidenced-based guidelines will be used to develop and implement specialized didactics as well as team-based, experiential learning activities addressing acute and long-term care nursing as a part of longitudinal clinical immersion. Students will participate in clinical placements in high need and demand areas. Learning activities will focus on addressing and managing social determinants of health factors and improving health equity and health literacy in medically underserved and rural areas and populations. The project will improve clinical competence, cultural humility, and self-care, which will aid in students entering the job market better prepared as newly graduated nurses (NGNs) in acute and long-term care settings. NGNs will be equipped with the clinical and professional confidence and competencies necessary for efficient, effective, and productive practice to advance and improve the health of patients, families, and communities. Transformation of the registered nurse workforce will occur by increasing diversity in the profession, developing preceptor and clinical partnerships, and fostering interprofessional education, training, and practice. The program aims to: (a) establish a replicable collaborative team-based care model of an undergraduate nursing immersion program, (b) increase the number of diverse students trained to care for medically underserved patients in acute and long-term care settings, and (c) increase the number faculty/preceptors identified as program partners to enhance acute and long-term care nursing education.
