Project Accomplishments:
Education
The Alabama Health Action Council (AL-HAC) focused on developing a platform to support students and nurses moving from Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) programs to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs and beyond. The Alabama Council identified and facilitated the development of financial sources for nursing students pursuing a BSN. The group created a task force to promote academic progression and minimize barriers for nurses moving from Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) education through doctorate education. The task force included representatives from two- and four-year colleges, as well as practice partners including the Alabama Department of Public Health, hospitals, home health care, and hospice. They collaborated with a variety of partner organizations and reached out to nursing programs and students across the state through a variety of initiatives including:
- Visiting more than 25 nursing programs and health care facilities to promote education and academic progression in the field;
- Partnering with the Alabama Health Education Center (AHEC) to reach more than 700 high school students to focus on increasing the number of students who enter health care programs;
- Establishing a summer enrichment program entitled Never Ending Road to Discovery (N.E.R.D), a residential camp at the University of Alabama;
- Creating a graduate nursing award program which provided small monetary grants to 12 nursing programs in the state; and
- Developing several fact sheets related to academic progression in nursing.
Data
The AL-HAC partnered with the Alabama Board of Nursing to utilize the nursing minimum data set in the collection of license renewal data and supported the analysis and monitoring of the data to support workforce planning. In this process, the group created the Alabama RN Workforce report.
Diversity
To improve nursing diversity within the state, the AL-HAC completed the following projects:
- Recruited people with diverse backgrounds to serve on its steering committee;
- Assisted with establishing the Greater Birmingham chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN), the first in the state and sponsoring several NAHN members to attend the annual NAHN conference;
- Developed and produced the Nursing Student and Faculty Survey, a review of all Alabama accredited, nonprofit nursing organizations. The survey established baseline data for nursing diversity data in the state.
Sustainability
AL-HAC also developed its first communications and development plan that included expanded messaging on Culture of Health and on a telehealth program for diabetes patients in rural Alabama.
Resources:
- Nursing Creates Nursing Career Map as Resource for Nursing Students
- Alabama’s Registered Nurse Workforce
- Alabama’s Nursing Student and Faculty Diversity Academic Years 2015 and 2016
- Alabama Reports on Demographics of RN Workforce
- Alabama Surveys Nursing Programs to Track Diversity Metrics
Publications:
- Ratcliffe, Carol J.; Cheshire, Michelle H.; Buckner, Ellen B.; Dawson, Martha A.; Berry, Shaina R.; McDaniel, Gretchen S.; Ladner, Kathleen A. “Building Bridges: The Journey of Alabama’s Health Action Coalition.” Nursing Education Perspectives. 38(5): 259—263
- Berry S, Dick T, Ladner KA, McDaniel GS. 2015 LPN Workforce Report. Alabama: Alabama Health Action Coalition, 2016. Available at http://www.al-hac.org/newsroom
- Berry S, Dick T, Ladner KA, McDaniel GS. 2016 RN Workforce Report. Alabama: Alabama Health Action Coalition, 2017. Available at http://www.al-hac.org/newsroom
- Berry S, Cheshire M, Dick T, Ladner KA, McDaniel GS, Shelton C. 2017 Nursing Student and Faculty Diversity Report. Alabama: Alabama Health Action Coalition, 2017. Available at http://www.al-hac.org/newsroom.