Project Accomplishments:

Focused on education for its SIP project, Rhode Island completed evaluation of its nurse residency program, designed to support new graduates who were unemployed or underemployed. The program succeeded in promoting academic progression and readying the participants for employment. Though it was discontinued because of shifts in nursing workforce dynamics, the nurse residency program also succeeded in leading to an online training program for nurse preceptors, one with broad applicability for other states.

The state’s SIP project strengthened partnerships among key entities statewide, including the Rhode Island Department of Education, Rhode Island Department of Health, and the Healthcare Transformation Committee. These new alliances led to increased recognition of the need for improved data collection; the plan is for new processes to be implemented in 2018. Finally, a very successful Advancing Health Career Education summit saw more than 100 educators, administrators, guidance counselors, and policymakers sharing information and strategies.