The University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s College of Nursing has received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor through the Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities Initiative. The three-year grant will fund the Delta Nurse Scholars program, which supports nursing graduates in their transition to work in rural or underserved hospitals.
This program, which began September 30, will support 13 senior nursing students during each of the grant’s three years by covering full tuition, books, and fees. The program will also assist the new nurse graduates’ transition to practice by offering 12 months of mentoring, specialized clinical education, training, and support. In addition, it will provide training and support for one year after graduation for up to 30 other nurse graduates who are working in rural or underserved hospitals. Over three years, the Delta Scholars Program will assist at least 69 nurse graduates working in rural and underserved hospitals in the Delta region.
The principal investigator on the grant is Associate Professor and Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Programs Randy Johnson, PhD, RN. “This grant is a great opportunity for the students to complete their nursing degree and have experiences in rural and underserved areas while having their costs of education reduced significantly,” he said.
Dr. Johnson will be supported by grant team members Associate Professor Jami Smith Brown, DHEd, RN, CNN; Assistant Professor Alise Farrell, PhD, MSN, RN; Executive Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Charleen McNeill, PhD, MSN, RN, and Dean Wendy Likes, PhD, DNSc, APRN-BC, FAAN, FAANP.
“We are proud and honored to receive this funding which we hope will be instrumental in retaining newly graduated nurses in areas with nursing and health care gaps within the Delta Region,” Dean Likes said.
Because of the way the program is structured, it focuses on students in the college’s traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program, which offers four semesters of education with a summer break. As part of the transition to practice program, participating nurses will receive additional training in caring for people living with sickle cell disease, managing aggressive patient situations, and social drivers of health. A micro-credentialing process will be used to award medallions for completed work in specific concepts.
The Delta Scholars project team is partnering with Baptist Memorial Health Care’s rural hospitals in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas; West Tennessee Healthcare’s Dyersburg Hospital; and Regional One Health in Memphis. The grant team will work with representatives from the hospitals to help student nurses obtain a paid nurse internship during their summer break and continuing through the final semesters of their nursing program. The goal of the effort is to improve recruitment and retention of nurses.
Recruiting nurses is a significant factor in health care access for hospitals in rural areas and underserved urban areas. These hospitals struggle to fill nursing positions as recruitment costs and travel nursing costs increase. Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi were ranked very low on the United Health Foundation’s 2022 survey of clinical care access, preventive clinical services, and quality of care. Tennessee was No. 40, Arkansas was No. 43, and Mississippi was No. 48.
In addition, between 35% and 60% of new graduate nurses at health care institutions leave within the first year. Programs that support the transition to practice decrease the turnover rate. The Journal of Nursing Administrationestimates that it costs $82,000 to replace a nurse who has left.