The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), has announced that six nurse-led projects will receive Nursing Innovations Fund awards of up to $25,000 each. The projects submitted by the Campaign’s state-based coalitions all serve to strengthen nursing’s role in building a Culture of Health and promoting health equity by addressing societal barriers to health and well-being, including structural racism. The projects are described below.

The winning projects are from Delaware, Kentucky, Montana, Pennsylvania, Utah and West Virginia, and were selected based on offering replicable strategies that help nurses promote health equity and well-being, while highlighting the importance of collaboration with diverse stakeholders. In fact, each of the 2021 Nursing Innovations Fund projects secured dollar-to-dollar matching funds from local and state partners as a condition of the award, which prioritizes coalition building to achieve sustainable change. As of 2020, the Campaign’s state coalitions have raised more than $93 million from community partners.

“This award’s focus on health equity has never felt more urgent,” said Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior adviser for nursing at RWJF and director of the Campaign for Action. “This pandemic has put a spotlight on the inequities in our healthcare system. People of color, with lower incomes and those living in remote communities have gotten sick and died in the greatest numbers. Nurses remain on the front lines as trusted providers of care, and they are stepping up to innovate ways to build more equity into the system.”

“It is remarkable to me that despite the unprecedented pressure nurses are under during this pandemic, they are prioritizing the critical work that is needed to create structures to make health care more equitable in every way,” said Susan C. Reinhard, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior vice president and director of the AARP Public Policy Institute, and chief strategist at the Center to Champion Nursing in America, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and RWJF, which coordinates the Campaign for Action. “We received impressive proposals from all over the country, including some places hardest hit by COVID. I feel so much pride in our profession right now.”

“When nurses reflect the communities they serve, you see significant improvements in health and health equity,” said Eric J. Williams, DNP, RN, FAAN, interim associate dean of health sciences, nursing program director at Santa Monica College, and co-chair of the EDISC. “No one is better positioned than nurses to innovate ways to make their profession more inclusive and diverse.”

The Campaign’s Nursing Innovations Fund was created in 2018 to support work of its state Action Coalitions and allies that inform and influence policy, produce replicable strategies that place nurses in positions as essential partners in providing care, and strategically involve a diversity of stakeholders. This competition was limited to the Action Coalitions or organizations designated by Action Coalitions and required applicants to raise funds to match the award dollars. To date, Action Coalitions and their allies in 23 states have received Nursing Innovations Fund awards to build healthier communities through nursing.

The winners and an overview of each of their projects are listed below:

Delaware

Title: Nursing in the 21st Century: Exposing Middle School Students to a Career in Nursing

School nurses from Delaware’s Brandywine School District will pilot an afterschool program that aims to increase awareness of nursing career pathways among students from underrepresented communities. Working with key stakeholders, the project staff will construct and administer a program that focuses on informing middle schoolers, especially students from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, low-income communities, and boys about potential career opportunities in nursing. The pilot will be administered in three district middle schools during the project year and shared with educators across the state.

Kentucky

Title: School Nurses to BARN Camp for the Mental Health and Wellness of Kentucky Youth

The Kentucky Nurses Action Coalition will partner with the University of Kentucky College of Nursing to implement a mental health and wellness training for school nurses with the goal of decreasing youth suicide in the state, which far exceeds the national average. This project expands on the Bringing Action Right Now, or BARN, initiative aimed at addressing health equity via social isolation awareness and training. Project leaders will recruit 100 school nurses to participate in the program and will work with a variety of community stakeholders, including the Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Montana

Title: Coalition Catalyst: Building Health Equity in Montana

The Montana Center to Advance Health Through Nursing (MT CAHN) aims to advance health equity by involving two nurse leaders on the newly formed Montana Health Equity Task Force. This task force was created to influence policy and guide programs that will improve health equity for Montanans, and the nurse leaders will provide a nursing lens and act as a liaison for the state’s nursing community supporting local level, health equity-focused strategies. Additionally, the nurse leaders will utilize the Campaign for Action’s Health Equity Toolkit to help develop and deliver a health equity track at the MT CAHN Nursing Summit in June 2022.

Pennsylvania

Title: Pennsylvania Action Coalition Cohort of Exchanged Learning (PA-ACCEL) Mentorship Program

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.

Utah

Title: Building Diversity and Health Equity Competence into the Pipeline of Utah’s Nursing Workforce

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.

West Virginia

Title: Health Equity Skill Building Multimedia Continuing Education Pilot Project

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.

##

About the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action

The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action is a national initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP and RWJF, working to implement the National Academy of Medicine’s evidence-based recommendations on the future of nursing. The Campaign includes Action Coalitions in nearly every state and the District of Columbia and a wide range of health care professionals, consumer advocates, policy-makers, and the business, academic, and philanthropic communities. The Center to Champion Nursing in America, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP and RWJF, serves as the coordinating entity for the Campaign. Learn more at www.campaignforaction.org. Follow on Twitter at @Campaign4Action and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CampaignForAction.

The post Campaign Names Winners of 2021 Nursing Innovations Fund Award appeared first on Campaign for Action.

The post How Closely Do Montana’s RN Graduates Reflect the State’s Diversity? appeared first on Campaign for Action.

More than 6 percent of those living in Montana are Native American, and thanks to a program that just received a federal boost, Montana State University’s College of Nursing has a student body that matches that population.

Since 1999, the Caring for Our Own Program (CO-OP) has aimed to recruit and graduate Native American nurses who will work in Indian Health Service facilities on reservations or in urban settings. The program’s long-term goal is to improve the health of Native Americans in Montana by reducing health disparities.

“Ultimately, our focus is on improving the health of Native American people in Montana,” said MSU College of Nursing Dean Helen Melland. “Through CO-OP, the College of Nursing truly is committed to making a difference not only for our students, but also for our state.”

The program provides tutoring, advising help, and financial assistance. The new grant will allow CO-OP to more than double the number of students who receive this support.

CO-OP has helped to more than double the enrollment of American Indian students at MSU over the last decade to 650 this fall. The largest proportion of Native American students is in the College of Nursing, and most of the nearly 100 CO-OP graduates have returned to their reservations to provide care.

The success is particularly noteworthy in light of the recommendation by the Institute of Medicine that the nursing workforce expand its racial and ethnic diversity. A more diverse workforce, said the IOM in its 2010 report, will help better meet the nation’s health needs—a point it emphasized in its 2015 update report on the future of nursing.

Photo by Kelly Gorham, courtesy of  MSU. 

The post Montana State University: Nursing Students Match State’s Diversity appeared first on Campaign for Action.

• the retirement of one-third of the nursing workforce over the next 10 years
• the retirement of 70 million baby boomers, many of whom will have multiple chronic and degenerative conditions
• health care reform
• the physician shortage

Combined, these forces mean that nurses will play a larger role in preventive care and patient education as health care reform moves care out of hospitals.

In this Q&A, the director of Montana State University’s Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce talks of ways the nursing profession, hospital leaders, and legislators at the state and national levels can make the best use of the nursing workforce.

The post The Four Forces That Will Reshape Nursing appeared first on Campaign for Action.

• Distribution of population by race/ethnicity
• Percentage of population living in rural versus urban areas
• Distribution of population by federal poverty level
• Areas in which there is a shortage of primary health professionals

These statistics can guide your Action Coalition’s work in shaping a nursing workforce to better meet local needs and overcoming health disparities in your state. As you integrate other Culture of Health aspects into your work, consider how demographics play a role in health equity and fostering cross-sector collaboration.

The post Demographic and Workforce Facts appeared first on Campaign for Action.

This meeting is so important that the Governor is going to welcome us as we open the Summit!

2016MTCAHNSummitAgenda

The post MTCAHN Presents 5th Annual Collaborative Summit! appeared first on Campaign for Action.

The first class of the licensed practical nursing program at Blackfeet Community College graduated in May 2014. The school recently added an associate’s degree in nursing program.

Montana has a serious shortage of Native American nurses.

The Campaign for Action’s state Action Coalition in Montana is taking steps to address the obstacles many Native Americans face to becoming nurses. Those barriers include family obligations, discriminatory treatment in nursing schools, and a lack of tradition of pursuing higher education, according to Casey Blumenthal, RN, Montana Action Coalition co-lead and vice president of MHA – An Association of Montana Health Care Providers.

While the Native American population in Montana is 6.5 percent, Native Americans make up only about 2.3 percent of the nurses in the state.

“Native American nurses understand better the family and cultural needs of Native American patients and can be much more helpful in navigating the health care system,” Blumenthal said.

The Montana Action Coalition is conducting a needs assessment with tribal representatives from nursing programs across the state to learn about the resource and educational needs of Native American students. The results will form the basis of a diversity plan and best practice toolkit to increase Native American nurses in Montana and perhaps elsewhere.

One promising approach is the “Caring for Our Own Program” (CO-OP) at Montana State University (MSU), which includes a support group for students to meet with Native American faculty to discuss challenges.

CO-OP also provides tutors for students and runs a cultural immersion program for nursing faculty to educate them about the unique needs and obstacles of Native American students.

Kellie Phillips, an MSU College of Nursing student and member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, feels she benefited from the CO-OP program.

“The CO-OP program gave me a great foundation,” she said. “It offers so many resources and the staff and faculty truly want you to succeed. I think the support system they offer helps students most of all—they were like my family.”

Another program at Blackfeet Community College graduated its first class of licensed practical nursing students in 2014, and the college recently added an associate’s degree in nursing program. In the past, students there could only take prenursing coursework, and traveled to other schools to get a nursing degree. Because the college is located on the Blackfeet reservation, its nursing program may be more appealing and easier for Native Americans to attend because they can stay near their families, Blumenthal noted.

The Action Coalition is working hard to meet the Institute of Medicine’s goal for 80 percent of the nursing workforce in Montana to have a bachelor’s degree in nursing by 2020. Blackfeet Community College is one of the two tribal college partners in the statewide effort to create a seamless pathway for their students’ progression. Montana was also recently awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to help improve pathways to academic progression in nursing education in the state.

The Action Coalition also plans to create materials to highlight nursing to the next generation of Native American nurses.

“Our target audiences are anyone in high school or college to encourage and inspire them to look at nursing as a career option,” Blumenthal said. “When you drop a pebble in the pond, there is a ripple effect. Our focus is on keeping this visible for people. We believe all of these efforts will help reach the call of encouraging more Native Americans to enter nursing.”

This story appeared in the April 2015 issue of Advancing Health: News from the Campaign for Action.

The post Montana’s Quest to Boost Native Americans in Nursing appeared first on Campaign for Action.