Title: Toward Health Equity and Literacy: Training for Optimal RN Efficacy in Acute Care (2HEAL) Applicant Address: Emory University, 1599 Clifton Road NE, 4th Floor, Atlanta, GA 30322 Project Director: Roxana C. Chicas, PhD, RN Phone: 770.377.1989 | Fax: 404.788.4778 | Email: rchicas@emory.edu Funds Requested: $945,776 Funding Priority Linkage: Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, is eligible to receive 2 points for Funding Priority 1: States with the Greatest Nursing Shortages. Overview: “Toward Health Equity and Literacy: Training for Optimal RN Efficacy in Acute Care” (2HEAL) will increase the number of undergraduate nursing students trained in various acute care settings to address and manage social determinants of health and improve health equity and health literacy for underserved populations in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia (GA). 2HEAL is designed to enhance nursing education, practice, and retention by strengthening capacity and skills for high quality, culturally sensitive care in the acute care registered nurse workforce. 2HEAL’s conceptual goals and operational objectives are designed to optimize both health equity and nursing workforce diversity. The 2HEAL program will be (1) guided by Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model, design and deliver innovative, evidence-based experiential learning simulation experiences imbued with social determinants of health (SDoH) and health literacy for patients in various acute settings that extend to families and communities; (2) provide didactic and experiential nursing education geared toward addressing SDOH in various acute care settings while developing skills in health literacy, leadership, communication, and critical thinking in a technology-innovative and collaborative practice environment; (3) foster a collaborative team-based learning environment that mentors BSN students to identify and implement strategies to address SDoH and health literacy in acute care settings with medically underserve
d populations (MUPs); (4) enhance the RN workforce by creating experiential learning opportunities emphasizing nursing skills and care delivery that address SDoH and health literacy in acute care setting of MUPs; and (5) establish strategic academic-community partnerships that inform acute care simulation scenarios and training related to SDoH and health literacy. Objectives: 2HEAL has the following objectives: 1.Enhance curricular components with standardized patients and simulation equipment to ensure competence in caring for patients in acute care settings for 135 traditional BSN students (45 in Year 1, 90 in Year 2). 2. Enhance Emory Nursing’s BSN training curriculum to integrate SDoH and health literacy concepts, strengthening the educational foundation for improving health disparities and improving patient health outcomes focused on acute care settings. 3. Implement five web-based professional development modules related to SDoH and health literacy, created by diverse nursing faculty, and shared through Emory Nursing Experiences’ learning platform with faculty, preceptors, and GA RNs. 4. Using appropriate cultural linguistic approaches that improve health literacy and address SDoH through use of innovative technology solutions, expand acute care access for MUPs to increase the number of patients served to 20% above the baseline. 5. Use 2HEAL as a longitudinal, immersive clinical experience for BSN students. 6. Establish 2HEAL community health advisory group that includes the academic-community partners and meets quarterly. Methods: 2HEAL will train undergraduate nursing students with longitudinal experiential learning opportunities in collaborative, team-based acute care. Additionally, students will engage in weeks-long immersions, allowing them to apply classroom learning to acute care health equity and literacy training experiences.