Project Abstract Project Director: Cheryl Giefer, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, Director and University Professor Project Title: Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention- Registered Nurse Training Program (NEPQR-RNTP), HRSA-22-168; CFDA No. 93.359 Applicant Name: Pittsburg State University (PSU), 1701 Broadway Street, Pittsburg, KS 66762 Project Director Contact Numbers: Phone: 620-724-3366; Fax: 620-235-4449 Project Director E-Mail Address: cgiefer@pittstate.eduWeb Site Address: www.pittstate.edu Entity Applying: Irene Ransom Bradley School of Nursing (IRBSON), PSU Overview: The PSU/ NEPQR-RNTP project will use grant funds to expand established experiential training partnerships between the Irene Ransom Bradley School of Nursing (IRBSON), Pittsburg State University (PSU), Pittsburg, Kansas; Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas (CHC-SEK), a FQHC; Freeman Health System, Joplin, Missouri; and Girard Medical Center, Girard, Kansas to enhance nursing education and practice to increase the number of undergraduate nursing students trained in acute care settings in underserved areas by 20 students per academic year. The program will focus on disadvantaged pre-licensure BSN and RN to BSN students, with the goal of increasing the number of underrepresented racial and ethnic minority students. The collaborative partnerships will provide acute care experiences geared toward the delivery of culturally sensitive care in a technologically innovative environment while developing skills in leadership, communication, and critical thinking. Existing didactic content at PSU will be enhanced to teach nursing students to manage Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) factors and health equity for underserved populations. Use of telehealth was expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic to deliver quality care and will continue to be used in the underserved three-state area. Objectives: 1. Establish or expand the use of innovative education and training models to str
engthen the capacity of undergraduate nursing students ready to practice in acute care settings. 2.Expand the nursing workforce by creating experiential learning opportunities for emphasizing advanced nursing skills and care delivery to underserved communities. 3.Provide didactic nursing education geared toward the delivery of culturally competent care, addressing SDOH and health equity while developing skills in leadership, communication, and critical thinking in a technologically innovative and collaborative practice environment. 4. Advance health equity and support for underserved populations by increasing the number of nurses that will be working as integral members of interprofessional teams and use their expanded skills to reduce health disparities. 5.Increase the diversity of the nursing workforce by recruiting students and faculty from diverse populations, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds and underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities. 6. Ensure that programmatic activities can continue, can be coordinated effectively, and that grant recipients can implement recovery plans in the event of public health emergencies. Clinical Priorities include: COVID-19, health equity, SUD/Opioids, telehealth, childhood obesity, behavioral health, intimate partner violence and rural health. Funding Priority 2/ and Funding Preference Requested: The PSU project meets Funding Priority 2 as PSU is a public entity. The PSU project qualifies for Funding Preferences 1 and 2 as the project “substantially benefits rural populations as well as underserved populations” by providing nursing education and traineeships for undergraduate BSN and RN to BSN students. PSU students will be ready to meet the needs of rural and underserved communities which they know and can relate to, as they grew up in these communities, receive training in the same underserved areas, and will contribute to this future nursing workforce. Funding Amount requested: $1,050,000.00.