Overview

The Colorado Action Coalition’s project sought to advance nursing leadership by supporting the expansion of a nurse-led health care team model to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) in the state. The project is called Nurses Leading the Transformation of the Practice Environment. The Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence provided the matching funds for the Innovation grant.

Summary of completed project

The Colorado Action Coalition sought to advance nursing leadership by supporting expansion of a nurse-led health care team model to FQHCs in the state. They did this in collaboration with Clinica Family Health, a FQHC, which has a successful nurse-led team-based health care model. They hosted two summits, each lasting for two days, titled “Cultivating Nurses in Primary Care.” Those gathering were followed by three web-based learning sessions including sessions on change management, clinical protocols and screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT). Each group was then offered three follow-up coaching sessions.

Outcomes

Workshop participants expressed an increased readiness to make changes in how their organization delivered care and two nursing schools enhanced their curriculum to include team-based care models. The “Cultivating Nurses in Primary Care Summits” will continue in 2020 and 2021.

A partnership of the Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence, three schools of nursing, Valley Wide Health Systems, and the Clinica Family Health were awarded a four-year, $699,890 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration  (HRSA) titled, “Achieving Systemic Impact: A Statewide Primary Care Nursing Collaborative.” One component of this HRSA grant is to fund the continuation of the “Cultivating Nurses in Primary Care Summit,” web-based learning sessions, and group coaching for two additional years. This will allow for the registration fees to remain minimal and increases the opportunity for participants from FQHCs and other nonprofits with limited resources to attend.

The post Colorado appeared first on Campaign for Action.

2019:

Overview

Building upon its 2018 Nursing Innovations Fund award, the Massachusetts Action Coalition and partner organizations created an anti-vaping curriculum resource guide and disseminated to school systems throughout the state.

Summary of completed project

The Massachusetts Action Coalition partnered with the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents and school wellness committees to create statewide Advisory and Curriculum Development Committees which provided input into the development and dissemination of the anti-vaping curriculum. An evidence-based approach was used to review and evaluate relevant anti-vaping materials and programs. The committee recommended appropriate materials based on grade level. Involvement of the State Department of Secondary Education, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Superintendents Association resulted in distribution of the curriculum guide to all elementary and secondary schools within the state.

The Advisory Committee included representatives from the Superintendents’ Association, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Health Council, the Massachusetts School Nurses Association, the Massachusetts Association of Public Health Nurses, school leadership including principals, counselors and schools resource officers, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, the Massachusetts Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Health Safety & Wellness Initiative, the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Addictive Medicine, Collaborative Youth Program, the Massachusetts Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance and the Department of Public Health Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program.

The Curriculum Committee included representatives from school districts across the state, including, school nurses, counselors, faculty, a superintendent and a curriculum consultant.

Outcomes
Statewide, multi-sector Advisory and Curriculum Committees were established. Their review and evaluation resulted in a comprehensive anti-vaping resource and curriculum guide that was circulated statewide. Additionally, the Action Coalition created a comprehensive communications plan, including key messages, strategies, and resources to promote the project.

2018: 

Overview

The Massachusetts Action Coalition’s project, Promoting Health Literacy to Influence Health and Wellness of Students in the Community, aimed to develop a health literacy initiative for students in select communities. The initiative focused on engaging nurses to become active participants in existing school wellness committees. Participating nurses received training and access to resources from partners so they could be better positioned to shape school policies concerning school nutrition, physical activity, and other student health issues.

Summary of completed project

The project, Promoting Health Literacy to Influence Health and Wellness of Students in the Community, focused on developing innovative partnerships and collaborations with the National Library of Medicine and the Massachusetts Health Council (MHC) to provide collections of resources to local school nurses and other school wellness committee members through the engagement of nurses in the community. These nurses (called nurse facilitators) received training and access to resources from partners so they could be positioned better to shape school policies concerning school nutrition, physical activity, and other student health issues. Nurse facilitators were volunteers recruited from Massachusetts communities with the low rankings in the Health Outcomes and Health Factors categories in the 2018 County Health Rankings Report. Five initial nurse facilitators served as mentors to orient and support a total of 20 nurse facilitators who shared the resources to support and advance the work of their local school wellness councils.

Outcomes

The Action Coalition attributes much of its success to the partnerships that they forged with National Libraries of Medicine, MHC, Massachusetts School Nurses Association, Massachusetts Association of Public Health Nurses and the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents. The primary impact of this project has been increasing the awareness of school wellness committees and their impact on the health and wellness of school children. The process of identifying topics of interest to local school wellness committees resulted in the awareness that statewide, there was a serious concern around vaping. This has led to a strengthened partnership with the state superintendent’s association to develop educational programming and policies related to the statewide public health crisis with vaping.

The post Massachusetts appeared first on Campaign for Action.

Overview

The aim of The Mentoring Project was to increase professional development opportunities and strengthen connections among nurses to increase job satisfaction, improve retention, and promote lifelong learning. Expert nurses engaged with novice nurses to progress through modules at their own pace based on novice nurses’ identified needs. First called the Create Nurses Connect project, it was renamed to reduce confusion with other projects within the state.

Summary of completed project

The Michigan Action Coalition created a networking platform (The Mentoring Project) and developed 21 e-learning modules on various topics related to nurse resiliency and retention including topics such as leadership, time management, identifying personal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats , goal setting, compassion, acceptance, and gratitude, among other topics. The Mentoring Project uses the ACEMAPP system, a secure online clinical education and placement system developed by the Michigan Health Council (MHC). The mentors and mentees who participated in the project also had access to social determinants of health e-learning modules through the ACEMAPP library. The MHC continues to build the ACEMAPP library and participants in the Mentoring Project have access to a growing repository of relevant materials to develop professionally and to support their careers in health care.

Outcomes

The Mentoring Project reached 50+ individual nurses and connected with multiple chief nursing officers. Additionally, a health system expressed interest in making the Mentoring Project part of their nurse residency program once the first test group of nurses completes the program in the summer of 2020. The Action Coalition initially partnered with the Michigan Health &Hospital Association to connect with hospitals and exhibited at the “2018 Nursing Summit” to solicit interest from nursing schools and health systems. These connections are forming the foundation for the program going forward. The Mentoring Project remains part of the MHC’s offerings and continues to be part of its ongoing workforce mission.

The post Michigan appeared first on Campaign for Action.

2020:

Overview

The Nebraska Action Coalition’s, “Striving for Health Equity in Nebraska,” aimed to address social determinants of health by piloting a project delivering school health fairs, and improving access to care via an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN)-led clinic for rural and underserved populations.

The project team was able to complete both projects. Additionally, a manuscript to Nursing Education Perspectives journal is being prepared for submission.

Summary of completed project

Project 1:

• Nursing students who participated in the school health fairs project were educated in social justice and health equity topics and learned how nurses can play a role in supporting their communities while promoting health-wise behaviors amongst school-aged children. Relationships with Creighton University were strengthened to aid in the school health fair project.

Project 2:

• Building off the 2019 Nursing Innovations Fund, the University of Nebraska Medical College APRN nurse-led clinic continued to integrate the Community Health Worker as a key member of interdisciplinary health care teams, especially as it relates to mental health for those in rural and underserved communities in the state.

Outcomes

The Nebraska Action Coalition continued to be successful in fostering local partnerships and implementing projects, including a Certified Nursing Assistant Mentoring Program and a diversity in nursing pipeline intervention. They built on their history by continuing to forge new relationships while bringing innovation to their work.

2019: 

Overview

The Nebraska Action Coalition focused on three projects designed to address health equity in under-resourced areas through innovative programs that focus on housing and access to health and health care. The project included:

1. a pilot to identify and improve housing in a defined vulnerable area within the state;
2. a survey to assess and establish a baseline of the Community Health Worker (CHW) role in the state; and
3. a pilot study to assess the effectiveness of a mentoring project to support nurses’ aides in furthering their education.

Summary of completed project

In partnership with Live Well Omaha, the Action Coalition developed a pilot project to inspect and grade properties in collaboration with the Omaha Housing Authority, Nebraska Tobacco Alliance, and the Omaha Health Kids Alliance. They also developed a model worksheet for tenants to use to maintain healthy homes.

The Coalition administered a CHW survey in partnership with the Center for Reducing Health Disparities, a division of the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health.  The survey results were disseminated through a report to stakeholders.

Lastly, the Nursing Pipeline Committee was formed, and a pilot program was developed to increase the number of nurse aides becoming registered nurses in the state. Phase one of the mentoring program was implemented with five nurse aides joining.

Outcomes

1. Development of an evidence-based checklist tool for tenants to maintain healthy homes; this tool is now in use by the Omaha Housing Authority. Results from the pilot showed “improvement of tenant knowledge of healthy homes” and “improvement of the grade of the property.”
2. A CHW survey and subsequent report, which was foundational in securing a state-wide CHW workforce assessment and three-year HRSA grant, focused on promoting and supporting the CHW in the state.
3. Five nurse aides participated in the mentoring program, with two participants applying to nursing school and one being accepted.

2018: 

Overview

The Nebraska Action Coalition planned on pursuing two projects. One project focused on involving nurses on a health literacy taskforce to develop a health literacy tool. Due to the departure of the lead for this project, the tool was not completed. The second project focused on involving nurses on a multidisciplinary supervision committee to develop guidelines for Community Health Workers (CHWs) across interdisciplinary settings. The third goal of project was to educate and engage nurse leaders on the role of CHWs and the supervision and value of this role to interdisciplinary teams.

Summary of completed project

In collaboration with the Douglas County Health Department and other partners, the Nebraska Action Coalition brought the perspective of the nurse as supervisor as part of the range of backgrounds of supervisors of community health workers to be included in a community health worker supervision toolkit. Following a “2018 Leadership/Culture of Health Conference,” the Action Coalition collected data on community health workers across the state. The Action Coalition did this in collaboration with the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health, its Center for Reducing Health Disparities, and Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services. Additionally, an open house included 40 participants from varied backgrounds including business, academia, diverse nursing organizations, and health care leaders to brainstorm and develop action plans focused on building a diverse nurse pipeline. In partnership with the A Place at Home, a homecare agency which employs diverse nurse aides, the Diverse Nurse Pipeline implemented a pilot for five pairs of mentor/mentees.

Outcomes

Members of the Action Coalition have participated in a number of statewide conferences to share information on the project to “raise up” the CHW role as an important interdisciplinary healthcare team member and the supervision direction, delegation, policy, regulation, and leadership roles related to the CHW role. Over 300 nurses (10 percent of the state’s nurses) were informed of the CHW role and the transformation of the interdisciplinary care team. A curriculum on the CHW supervision began in February 2019. The interdisciplinary team produced a report (Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services as the lead author, along with the Action Coalition and four other authors) that will be available in April 2020.  Education of the healthcare profession on the importance of the CHW role to interdisciplinary health and healthcare teams remains a priority of the Nebraska Action Coalition.

The post Nebraska appeared first on Campaign for Action.

Overview

In an effort to promote nursing leadership and address local health-related issues, the Ohio Action Coalition partnered with Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA) program to improve the health and safety of children and encourage nurse participation on the boards of this group or as volunteer advocates.

Summary of completed project

In an effort to promote nursing leadership and address local health-related issues, the Ohio Action Coalition partnered with CASA and the Nurses on Board Coalition (NOBC) to encourage nurse participation in CASA’s efforts by identifying nurses to serve on their local boards throughout Ohio. There are 42 CASA programs in 51 Ohio counties, with 26 programs having independent boards. During a statewide meeting of the Ohio CASA program directors, a presentation was given to explain the goal of the project and importance of nurses serving as board members or volunteers. The Action Coalition collaborated with the NOBC to identify potential nurse board members. Through the NOBC database, the Ohio Action Coalition was able to match qualified interested nurse candidates to serve on the CASA boards in their area. Instead of offering live presentations on board readiness training throughout the state, the Action Coalition posted education resources were on its website. The information was also posted on the NOBC website.

Outcomes

As a result of this project, the Ohio Action Coalition was able to place 18 nurses, and more appointments are pending. This model of identifying a national non-profit that has a local presence within states has successfully helped Ohio exceed its original goal of placing 457 nurses on boards by 2020 (part of the national effort to place 10,000 nurses on boards by 2020). NOBC is using this model as they work with the United Way to place nurses on its boards in communities across the country. The executive director of the Ohio CASA has expressed support for expanding this model to CASA boards in 49 states.

The post Ohio appeared first on Campaign for Action.

2021: 

Overview

The Pennsylvania Action Coalition (PA-AC) will expand its current mentoring program that aims to equip nurses from underrepresented backgrounds with the tools they need to be successful nursing students and nursing professionals. Key components of the 2021-2022 program include mentorship matching from the PA-AC’s Nurse Diversity Council, along with exposure to public health advocacy to inspire health equity and justice. Additionally, the coalition will enhance and promote its PA-ACCEL Toolkit as a model for replication nationwide.

2020:

Overview

The Pennsylvania Action Coalition expanded on previous Nursing Innovations Fund projects to build upon their podcast series “At the Core of Care.” They produced ten additional podcasts that highlighted nurses working to address social determinants of health within their communities. Additionally, they worked with nursing school professors to further the reach of their podcasts into nursing school classrooms.

Summary of completed project

Season three of “At the Core Care” focused on nurses and issues related to the social determinants of health. Examples of topics included: school nursing, oral healthcare in “dental deserts,” LGBTQ+ inclusive care, sexual assault nurses, and more.

In addition to collaborating with partners to market and distribute the podcasts, they worked with their Pennsylvania Academic Progression in Nursing (PAPiN) workgroup to build a pilot program for professors to highlight one episode each week in nursing school classrooms.

Ten additional podcasts were created. The most listened to episode, “What’s Next for the Future of Nursing?” had 3,293 plays/downloads. Seven professors signed up to participate in the pilot project, committing to share one episode per week in their classrooms during the Fall 2021 and/or Spring 2022 semesters.

New partnerships that were formed to produce season three include:

• Sanctuary Farm: an organization that addresses health inequities by converting abandoned and neglected areas in north Philadelphia into farm plots
• National Association of School Nurses
• Medical Oral Expanded Care, an initiative of DentaQuest Partnership for Oral Health Advancement in rural Pennsylvania
• Luke’s Miners Hometown Federal Rural Health Clinic
• Pennsylvania Youth Congress
• Pennsylvania Coalition for Oral Health

Outcomes

The Pennsylvania Action Coalition produced ten episodes, which focused on topics related to the social determinants of health, for season three of their podcast series, “At the Core of Care.” To expand the reach of the podcast, they piloted a project with nursing school professors to implement relevant episodes into their curriculum. They plan to expand this project after receiving survey feedback at the end of the Spring 2022 semester. Additionally, the Pennsylvania Action Coalition hopes to collaborate with other organizations to sponsor future episodes that will feature the work of those organizations.

2019:

Overview

The Pennsylvania Action Coalition developed a podcast series, “At the Core of Care,” to showcase how nurses are improving health by enhancing consumers’ experience in the health care system. They adapted and executed a marketing and dissemination plan to promote the podcast and increase revenue generation.

Summary of completed project

Ten new podcast episodes were developed, along with a trailer that highlighted how nurses are driving a Culture of Health. Their marketing efforts resulted in an increased number of downloads, subscribers, and listeners. Through their partnership with the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium (NNCC), the Action Coalition received funding from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Agency (HRSA) and the Gender Justice Fund to produce additional episodes.

The titles of the ten new podcasts are:

• Resiliency in Nursing Through Covid-19
• School Nurses and Their Role During Covid-19
• Social Justice in Nursing
• Building Resiliency in the Nursing Workforce
• Nursing Student Perspective of Covid-19
• Preventing SIDS with Cribs
• Examining the Impact of Covid on Community Health Center – Part 1
• Examining the Impact of Covid on Community Health Centers – Part 2
• Empowering Nurses to Change Public Policy
• Nurses Cultivating Patient-Centered Care

Outcomes

The “At the Core of Care” podcast series was accepted into the Health Podcast Network, a collection of 8,000 podcast episodes that feature topics in health care. The reach of the podcast extended beyond Pennsylvania, with listeners from Virginia, California, Ohio, Tennessee, and New York.

2018:

Overview

The Pennsylvania Action Coalition’s project, a podcast series titled “At the Core of Care,” is an effort to showcase the stories of patients, families, and communities, and the creative efforts of nurses and other partners to better meet their health care needs. These podcasts will present a health care need through the lens of the consumer and highlight the ways that nurses and other organizations intervene and partner to transform the health care system.

Summary of completed project

The Pennsylvania Action Coalition created a podcast series titled “At the Core of Care.” The first 10 podcast episodes that were developed showcased the stories of patients, families, and communities, and the creative efforts of nurses and other partners to better meet their health care needs. The podcasts viewed a health care need through the lens of the consumer and highlighted the ways that nurses and other organizations are intervening and partnering to transform the health care system.  The list of episodes includes:

• At the Core of Care Trailer to preview all episodes
• The Fight for Full Practice Authority in Pennsylvania
• Breast Feeding Support at the Philadelphia Nurse-Family Partnership
• Pediatric Home Care for Medically Complex Children
• Bodies and Barriers-LGBT Health Equity
• Immigrant Health Care: Chester County
• Refugee Health Care Parts I and 2
• Nursing Perspectives, with interviews with nursing champions from AARP’s Center to Champion Nursing in America

The Action Coalition focused on reflecting the geographic diversity of the Action Coalition work and the diversity of Pennsylvanians. The Action Coalition contracted a professional radio and podcast producer to both develop and assist in the marketing of the podcasts.

Outcomes

The podcast series had listeners from across the United States and internationally though the greatest number of listeners are from Pennsylvania. The podcast has been played 1,985 times with the most listeners in the two largest urban areas of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. One episode has been adapted for an episode of WHYY’s The Pulse, a weekly radio program and podcast about health and science. WHYY is the Philadelphia region’s National Public Radio member station. A second season of 10 episodes have been prepared and a third is in the planning stages.

The post Pennsylvania appeared first on Campaign for Action.

2019:

Overview

The Rhode Island Action Coalition’s (RIAC) project focused on reducing stigma and increasing nurses’ awareness of substance use disorders (SUD) by creating professional development opportunities, promoting interprofessional engagement, and identifying best practices. They sought to organize community support for those seeking to recover from SUD, and expanded the Action Coalition’s cross-sector network, while engaging nurse leaders to raise community awareness, scale successful programs, and improve hiring practices that address stigma reduction.

Summary of completed project

The RIAC convened a cross-sectional group of over 30 stakeholders from across the state’s health systems, addiction recovery and harm reduction providers, state agencies, and interested community members. The group identified common objectives, including expanding continuing education opportunities to reduce stigma, and educating the public on how to help individuals with SUD. The RIAC brought together a cohort of nurse leaders from across to the state who became familiar with best practices around SUD and shared these practices within their organizations.

Outcomes

The RIAC developed a website, https://www.recoveryri.org/, to be a resource for individuals and organizations who want more information on addiction recovery. To promote awareness on SUD, they hosted a two-part play series and a panel entitled “What Providers Need to Know.” They received $10,000 from the Rhode Island Foundation for the performances and outreach.

The RIAC also served on a team of professionals participating in the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on Opioids and Overdoses annual hackathon. Their winning idea ultimately led to the concept for Mainstay, RI, a recovery center for those who have overdosed on opioids.

Work from this project helped familiarize nurse leaders and the state officials the best practices for assisting people with SUDs while addressing stigma and raising awareness of SUD among health providers.

2018:

Overview

The Rhode Island Action Coalition had two primary goals. The first goal was to prepare nurses to provide care for populations with health disparities by utilizing the community-based enhanced primary program developed by a local college. The second goal was to disseminate resources and educational opportunities that promote interprofessional team practices among Rhode Island health practices by developing an awareness and integration campaign to aid in dissemination of these resources.

Summary of completed project

Due to external factors and varying levels of institutional engagement, the Action Coalition was unable to move forward with their first goal. The Rhode Island Action Coalition was successful in expanding participation in the Rhode Island Interprofessional Education (IPE) and Practice Collaborative (RICIPEP) to include the Community College of Rhode Island. The RICPEP had been composed of the Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School, the Rhode Island College of Nursing and School of Social Work, and the University of Rhode Island College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, and College of Health Sciences. The clinical practice partners were two large health systems (Lifespan and Care New England), the Providence VA Medical Center, and the southern Rhode Island Area Health Education Center (AHEC). The Rhode Island Action Coalition was also successful in promoting the interprofessional educational efforts through its network and email distribution list; a garnering media publicity of the joint education effort and working with communication personnel from the participating partners to increase participation in joint education efforts and the annual RICEP conferences in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Outcomes

In the first year of the program, over 200 health professional students from the community college (CCRI) who previously would not have had an opportunity to learn in a multi-disciplinary, interprofessional health team settings were able to participate in and work with health colleagues in a variety of diverse teams. The plan is to expand the current programming to increase the number of students in each subsequent year. Additionally, the publicity achieved in promoting the IPE activities has raised awareness among the general public and health leaders about the importance of health teams to practice collaboratively.

The post Rhode Island appeared first on Campaign for Action.

2021:

Overview

The Utah Action Coalition for Health, working with Holy Cross Ministries, will pursue a two-part project designed to build diversity and health equity competence in Utah’s nursing workforce pipeline. The project will increase exposure to nursing careers in predominantly Hispanic communities, and embed Certified Health Workers’ knowledge of health equity/disparities into Certified Nursing Assistant training programs. The Campaign for Action’s Health Equity Toolkit will be interwoven in the project’s implementation phase, and a steering committee composed of key partners will be created for guidance. The project will focus on two school districts initially, with the opportunity for expansion later.

2018:

Overview

The Utah Action Coalition had four main goals including: 1) increasing diversity in nursing by implementing strategies to encourage diverse students to pursue a nursing education through outreach to middle and high school counselors; 2) implementing a student mentoring and support system to ensure retention and completion of  nursing academic programs; 3) implementing support programs and systems for diverse early career professionals to assume their first leadership position; and 4) increasing the number of diverse nurses on community boards to promote the culture of health in underserved or under-insured Utah communities.

Summary of completed project

The Utah Action Coalition sought to increase the diversity of the nursing workforce by using a multipronged approach. The Action Coalition utilized a research-based framework to examine the literature, collect and analyze data, conduct site visits, and share its results with partners and other leaders throughout the state. The Action Coalition developed comprehensive reports on methods and results for each goal.

For the first goal, the Utah Action Coalition reached out to middle school counselors, high school counselors, and science teachers to assess high school minority students’ perceptions about attending college and their beliefs in self-efficacy and personal abilities. Students were able to complete the survey online or in a paper format.

For the second goal, the Action Coalition collaborated with the Academic Leadership Committee of the Utah Organization of Nurse Leaders to circulate the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation diversity survey to 13 of the 18 Utah nursing programs, focusing on identifying barriers and strategies to recruitment and retention of diverse students.

For the third goal, the Utah Action Coalition evaluated the challenges facing diverse first year nurses. The Action Coalition worked with a large metropolitan tertiary teaching hospital to survey all first year diverse nurses.  The information collected was so compelling to Action Coalition practice partners that it will be replicating the work in other hospital settings statewide.

For the fourth goal, the Action Coalition partnered with Springboard, a Utah based organization with a mission to promote, train, connect and advocate for more women to be appointed to boards and commission. Additionally, the Action Coalition also completed an in-depth analysis of the Nurses on Boards Coalition registry data for Utah.

Outcomes

The Action Coalition met or exceeded all but one of their goals. These outcomes include:

• Goal One: The outreach was primarily high school students using health career day activities to survey all students who were interested in participating. The student health career days at Utah State University (45 participants) and Salt Lake Community College (80 students) were utilized for preliminary surveys. The revised surveys were sent to Uintah High School (16 students) and 12 schools where Native American students represented eight percent of the student population. As an example of the results, 61 percent of the students surveyed responded that they had either not or somewhat considered nursing as a career choice. Results of the surveys also found that 43 percent of the students were unaware of the benefits of a career in nursing. The Action Coalition then did an analysis of the remaining set of questions on self-efficacy (belief in self) and self-efficacy (belief in effort). The Action Coalition continued to identify event opportunities in diverse middle and high schools. They are also sharing the results with other school districts to encourage action planning to increase counselor and educator engagement with diverse students.
• While the original goal of establishing a mentoring system was not met, a broad-based assessment of recruitment, retention, and inclusion in nursing programs was completed and outlined priorities for future nursing diversity work.
• Goal three exceeded the original plan with a thorough evaluation of barriers of first year diverse nurses’ challenges and commitments from practice partners to implement interventions to address barriers identified. A proposal to have the survey sent out on an ongoing basis to each newly hired nurse on the one-year mark from date of hire is being evaluated.
• The key findings for goal four demonstrated that registered nurses (RNs) with higher educational backgrounds were disproportionally represented on Boards by 33 percent. Male RNs in Utah are also disproportionally represented on Boards by 12 percent when compared to overall practicing RNs in Utah. RNs serving on Boards located within urban communities were overrepresented by 53 percent, compared to the typical RN working in rural locations. Utah’s Nurses on Boards effort is ongoing, and this survey provided the Action Coalition with insights into how to reach diverse nurses to offer them skills training to prepare them for Board opportunities.  While the current number of diverse nurses serving on boards is representative of Utah’s population, there is a hope that this work will increase the number of diverse nurses serving in this capacity in the future.

The Action Coalition used Doctor of Nursing Practice students from the University of Utah College of Nursing to help with their overall project and provided experiences that directly benefited the students’ education clinical experiences. As many organizations in Utah are working on diversity and inclusion, the Action Coalition found that it is imperative to hold regular coordinating meetings to avoid duplication and effectively leverage these community partnerships. By using a multipronged approach, the process provided useful information for the Action Coalition to move forward in increasing the diversity of the nursing workforce in their state.

The post Utah appeared first on Campaign for Action.

2021: 

Overview

The Future of Nursing West Virginia (FONWV) will develop a Health Equity Skills Building Multimedia Continuing Education (CE) package for nurses and nursing students. It will focus on the multicultural needs of Appalachian and minority communities in rural and underserved areas of the state and cover systemic racism, implicit bias, equity in care for select populations (starting with LGBTQIA), improving culturally competent care, and building effective cross-cultural communication. The goal is to improve nurse and student nurse skills in building healthier relationships that address disparities, particularly related to stress and trauma.

2020:

Overview

The Future of Nursing West Virginia (FONWV) sought to expand their Nurse Entrepreneur Course, enrolling 20 more nurses, and opening five additional nurse businesses in the state. Ultimately, they enrolled 17 nurses in the program and nine new businesses opened.

The Nurse Entrepreneur Course provides nurses, who are often innovative and creative by nature, with the business skills and resources to start their own businesses, often filling a need in the community.

Summary of completed project

The development and strengthening of partnerships were successful, with the establishment of the Center of Nurse Entrepreneurship forthcoming.

Some of the new businesses include a breastfeeding and lactation service, a travel nurse company, birthing and midwifery services, a health and wellness company, primary care services, and skin care services. Seventeen nurses completed the course, which was offered via Zoom, and nine new nurse-related businesses opened in the state, with one more scheduled to open.

Building on the success of the initial Nursing Innovations Fund award, new funding partnerships were established to create the Center of Nurse Entrepreneurship. The Nursing Entrepreneurship courses have been recognized as a driver of economic opportunity for West Virginia, which is evidenced by the support of the U.S. Economic Development Administration and Appalachian Regional Commission.

The funding for the Center of Nurse Entrepreneurship will allow for the scaling of the program on a more widespread level. Funding will be used to hire paid staff, expand course offerings, compensate instructors, and market outside of the state. The funding will also be used to sponsor a “Nurses in Business” conference, which will increase networking and program exposure.

Outcomes

Increasing the potential and skills for nurses to establish community businesses is a big growth area that often fills a community need, as evidenced by the outside funding received for the creation of the Center of Nurse Entrepreneurship. The FONWV is filling a gap to provide nurses with the business education and tools to be successful as they venture out on their own.

2019:

Overview

The West Virginia Action Coalition collaborated with cross-sector partners to promote nurse-led health businesses among student nurses with the goal of improving community access to care and stimulating local economies. The team created a syllabus to integrate entrepreneur concepts into BSN, MSN, and DNP classes and created a manual for distribution and dissemination.

Summary of completed project

The Action Coalition created a syllabus to integrate nurse entrepreneur concepts into BSN community courses and as an elective for MSN and DNP courses. They also created a video highlighting the project and putting a spotlight on a nurse business owner. The Nurse Entrepreneur Course Manual is in a PDF format and downloadable on the course website.

Outcomes

The West Virginia Action Coalition created the nurse entrepreneur syllabus, promotional video, and downloadable course manual.

They also received $100,000 in additional funding from The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation to expand the project and create the West Virginia Center for Nurse Entrepreneurship, and the Economic Development Administration approved the Center for $600,000 for staffing.

The project leaders were invited to author the chapter, “Leadership Through Entrepreneurship” (Marino, L., Accad, A., Barr, T.) in an APRN textbook entitled Nursing Leadership through Entrepreneurship.

2018:

Overview

The West Virginia Action Coalition focused on increasing awareness about nurse entrepreneurship, offering webinars and online training to teach skills. They also developed a curriculum, provided mentors and conducted a complete evaluation of the program. This project was based on the belief that nurses could have a large economic impact in the state and in their communities if they were more knowledgeable about business opportunities.

Summary of completed project

The West Virginia Action Coalition developed a curriculum in partnership with the West Virginia Nurses Association and the Small Business Development Center. The course included two onsite all-day sessions and 10 online webinars. Five nurses in business were engaged to serve as mentors and coaches. A complete evaluation including pre and post sessions was developed. Getting the word out and attracting nurses to participate was the greatest challenge. In addition to articles in the West Virginia Nurse quarterly publication, the Action Coalition advertised in the local newspaper and the Board of Nursing newsletter. Postcards were sent to advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) identified by the Board of Nursing. Participants paid $45 for the course to encourage commitment to attending and completing the course.

Outcomes

There were 35 nurses who took the course; 10 of these nurses have opened new health businesses with others in various stages of business development. Many are continuing with the Small Business Development Center coaches. In addition to primary care practices by APRNs, businesses also include a store front consignment shop with classes for new mothers including breast feeding; a postpartum home visiting service with services for postpartum depression; and an infusion business and a daycare center.

The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation produced a video on the project and awarded the project their “Change Maker Award.” The co-leads of the West Virginia Action Coalition were invited to submit a chapter on nurse entrepreneurship for Advanced Practice Nursing Leadership: A Global Perspective, to be published by Springer. The project is continuing with additional webinars on coding. The overall learning was that nurses need earlier exposure to intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial concepts in their nursing curriculum.

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