Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention - Workforce Expansion Program - Overview: The author seeks funding from HRSA to provide a comprehensive program aimed at addressing the growing nursing shortage in South Carolina. The project will partner the university with clinical partners to meet goals and objectives. The project takes a multi-pronged approach to recruit and retain diverse nursing students to graduation and promote entry into the workforce, particularly in acute and long-term care settings in South Carolina. Program and participant assessment will occur throughout the grant period to measure the influence of training on the key issues such as: social determinants of health, care of medically underserved populations, rural healthcare, cultural competency, health equity, and working in interprofessional teams. During the grant period, university infrastructure will be built to sustain programming post-grant. Goals: 1. Increase the number of nursing students enrolled in, retained, and graduated from a baccalaureate degree nursing program. 2. Increase the number of undergraduate nursing students receiving additional specialized training in acute and long-term care settings. 3. Increase the number of undergraduate nurses employed in acute and long-term care settings post-graduation. 4. Increase the number of preceptors and clinical faculty to train nursing students in a baccalaureate nursing degree program. Program Strategies: 1. Student Financial Support – Student stipends: Tier 1 = $5,000/year and Tier 2 = $10,000/year; Offset costs associated with tuition; reducing need to work outside of school. 2. Tutoring – tutoring in “pre-nursing” and professional nursing courses. 3. Peer Mentor Program – upper class mentor assigned to each participant. 4. Student Success Academy – workshop series addressing time management, study skills, test-taking, and mental health. 5. Enhanced Curricula – Additional training in cultural competence, SDOH, interprofessional competencies, and cross-disciplinary courses that support these concepts. 6. Specialized Clinical Training – New clinical course on transitions of care with experiences in acute and long-term care. 7. Expanded Clinical Partnerships – Additional high quality acute-care and/or long-term care clinical sites for clinical training. 8. Preceptor Training – Program to develop preceptors based on ANPD Core Competencies. 9. 12-month Transition to Practice Program – Comprehensive program including clinical and didactic experiences over a 12-month period to support transition to practice. Funding Priorities: Priority 1: States with the Greatest Nursing Shortages [South Carolina], Priority 2: Public Entities. Funding Preferences: Preference Qualification 2: Underserved Populations
