Nurse education, practice, quality and retention - workforce expansion program - overview: the author seeks funding from hrsa to provide a comprehensive program aimed at addressing the growing nursing…

The Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Health Professionals awarded the University of South Carolina Beaufort $1,996,030 on September 30, 2025, under the Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention Grants program (CFDA 93.359) to expand nursing workforce capacity in South Carolina.

The award funds a comprehensive workforce expansion program designed to recruit and retain diverse nursing students in a baccalaureate degree program and increase their employment in acute and long-term care settings. Deliverables include tiered student financial support providing stipends of $5,000 per year (Tier 1) or $10,000 per year (Tier 2) to offset tuition and reduce need to work outside school; tutoring in pre-nursing and professional nursing coursework; a peer mentoring program assigning upper-class mentors to participants; a student success academy offering workshops on time management, study skills, test-taking, and mental health; and enhanced curricula with additional training in cultural competence, social determinants of health, interprofessional teamwork, and care for medically underserved and rural populations. The program includes development of preceptors and clinical faculty to train nursing students. Program and participant assessment occurs throughout the grant period to measure training influence on social determinants of health, care of medically underserved populations, rural healthcare, cultural competency, health equity, and interprofessional team performance. University infrastructure development to sustain programming post-grant is also funded.

Performance is located in South Carolina with a four-year period of performance from September 30, 2025, through September 29, 2029.

Nurse education, practice, quality and retention - workforce expansion program - overview: the author seeks funding from hrsa to provide a comprehensive program aimed at addressing the growing nursing shortage in south carolina. The project will partner the university with clinical partners to meet goals and objectives. The project takes a multi-pronged approach to recruit and retain diverse nursing students to graduation and promote entry into the workforce, particularly in acute and long-term care settings in south carolina. Program and participant assessment will occur throughout the grant period to measure the influence of training on the key issues such as: social determinants of health, care of medically underserved populations, rural healthcare, cultural competency, health equity, and working in interprofessional teams. During the grant period, university infrastructure will be built to sustain programming post-grant. Goals: 1. Increase the number of nursing students enrolled in, retained, and graduated from a baccalaureate degree nursing program. 2. Increase the number of undergraduate nursing students receiving additional specialized training in acute and long-term care settings. 3. Increase the number of undergraduate nurses employed in acute and long-term care settings post-graduation. 4. Increase the number of preceptors and clinical faculty to train nursing students in a baccalaureate nursing degree program. Program strategies: 1. Student financial support - student stipends: tier 1 = $5,000/year and tier 2 = $10,000/year; offset costs associated with tuition; reducing need to work outside of school. 2. Tutoring - tutoring in "pre-nursing" and professional nursing courses. 3. Peer mentor program - upper class mentor assigned to each participant. 4. Student success academy - workshop series addressing time management, study skills, test-taking, and mental health. 5. Enhanced curricula - additional training in cultural competence, sdoh, interprofessional competencies, and cross-disciplinary courses that support these concepts. 6. Specialized clinical training - new clinical course on transitions of care with experiences in acute and long-term care. 7. Expanded clinical partnerships - additional high quality acute-care and/or long-term care clinical sites for clinical training. 8. Preceptor training - program to develop preceptors based on anpd core competencies. 9. 12-month transition to practice program - comprehensive program including clinical and didactic experiences over a 12-month period to support transition to practice. Funding priorities: priority 1: states with the greatest nursing shortages [south carolina], priority 2: public entities. Funding preferences: preference qualification 2: underserved populations