Organization: Loyola University Chicago, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing (MNSON) Address: 2160 S. 1st Avenue, Maywood, IL, 60153 Project Director: P. Ann Solari-Twadell, PhD, RN, MPA, FAAN Phone: (773) 508- 3249 Email: psolari@luc.edu Project Period: 9/30/2022 through 9/29/2025 As the first baccalaureate nursing program in Illinois, Loyola University Chicago (LUC), Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing (MNSON) has prepared over 10,000 nurses to be leaders in the profession. We propose to continue our track record of excellence through the “Social Determinants of Health–Nursing Providing Access To Healthcare (SDOH-NPATH)” project. We will consult with Oglala Lakota Community Nursing Program in Pine Ridge, South Dakota in the development of this project. The SDOH-NPATH project increases and strengthens SDOH education for nursing students, clinical and theory faculty, preceptors, and nursing leaders from partnering health care institutions with the goal of providing culturally aligned quality nursing services in acute care settings in rural and urban underserved areas improving retention and resilience of nursing staff in acute care settings. SDOH-NPATH strives to increase diversity in the nursing workforce while enhancing healthcare equity in urban and rural underserved acute care settings through developing programming with culturally diverse high schools in rural and urban areas. Outcomes are to increase the numbers of culturally diverse nursing students and ultimately culturally diverse nurses who incorporate SDOH into their acute care nursing practice. SDOH-NPATH is based on these objectives: Objective 1: Create an Acute Care Nurse Scholars Program (ACNSP) and Summer Fellowship in Acute Care Nursing Program (SFACNP). The ACNSP will begin in the spring of the student’s first year of nursing education and continue through graduation where they will earn the designation of Acute Care Nurse Scholar (ACNS). The program focuses on SDOH evidence-bas
ed knowledge, skills, and attitudes, particularly for underserved populations in urban and rural settings. The ACNSP will be open to traditional, accelerated, hybrid accelerated, RN-BSN students and graduate nursing students. The SFACNP will be offered in the summer between the junior and senior year for traditional nursing students. Objective 2: Enhance and expand recruitment of diverse high school students into nursing programs by engaging high school students that represent underserved minority groups. The ACNS will participate in educational programs throughout the year designed to enhance the high school students understanding of nursing. Objective 3: Create four tracks of face-to-face and asynchronous, e-learning modules for a) undergraduate nursing students, b) clinical faculty and preceptors, c) theory faculty, and d) nursing leaders in partnering institutions to ensure integration. The four paths (Pre-professional, Preceptor, Patient, and Population) of Loyola’s PATH Model organizes the project activities. The Pre-professional Path (i.e., student) includes a curriculum with online, hybrid, interactive, experiential, and simulated SDOH acute care modules. The Preceptor Path educates clinical and theory faculty and site preceptors in SDOH acute care content to support nurse resilience and retention. The Patient Path incorporates assessments of patients and families with complex acute conditions using culturally appropriate SDOH strategies. The Population Path incorporates culturally informed strategies that includes SDOH for acute care settings. A statutory Funding Preference is requested based on the projects ability to substantially benefit rural and/or underserved populations in Chicagoland and South Dakota and military veteran populations.