Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention - Workforce Expansion Program - South Dakota State University College of Nursing Rapid City site has the classrooms, simulation lab space, and nursing faculty to increase enrollment by 15% by the end of the grant period. Growing Underserved Communities through Innovation, Development, and Education for Registered Nurses and Students (GUIDE-RNS) will address the other common barriers to increasing enrollment of adequate clinical space and instructors through partnerships with existing and new healthcare facilities in underserved areas or that serve underserved populations. GUIDE-RNS will help ensure a strong workforce of trained nurses in competencies needed to care for underserved individuals, specifically in acute and long-term care settings. All BSN students within the College of Nursing (1,112) and the RN clinical facilitators (68) will receive education on SDOH, health equity, and interprofessional team dynamics to facilitate nursing workforce readiness for practice, quality, and retention. The trained RN clinical facilitators, who are mentored by faculty experts, will also be trained in experiential teaching and learning strategies and clinical learning theories to foster students’ higher level of thinking during the clinical experiences. With the GUIDE-RNS training project, 136 nursing students will have the opportunity to practice in acute and long-term care settings through a combination of simulation and traditional clinical experiences. Marketing and recruitment will focus on increasing BSN students' access to nursing education in underserved areas of South Dakota. Student mentorship and financial initiatives will help support retainment of students through graduation and likely practice in underserved areas. There are five factors contributing to the need for this project: 1) the opportunity to increase the number of students enrolled, retained, and graduated from a BSN program; 2) the opportunity for improvements in the delivery of healthcare in underserved acute and long-term healthcare settings through nursing workforce readiness for practice, quality, and retention; 3) the opportunity for innovative education and training of future acute and long-term care RNs in underserved areas; 4) the opportunity to enhance professional nursing competencies in underserved areas to improve patient outcomes; and 5) the opportunity to provide professional development and mentorship to increase the number of RN clinical facilitators to train nursing students in a baccalaureate nursing program. South Dakota State University is requesting a funding priority based on Priority 2: Public Entities as an instrumentality of the State (public university). South Dakota State University is requesting a fending preference based on Qualification 2: Substantially benefits underserved populations.
