USM College of Nursing Receives Advanced Practice Traineeship Grant
Mon, 11/14/2016 - 10:59am
The College of Nursing's Department of Advanced Practice at The University Southern Mississippi has been awarded a traineeship grant for nearly $350,000 through Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to fund 50 Advanced Practice Registered Nurses for the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 academic years.
The purpose of the traineeship is to support future APRNs who seek to serve Mississippi's rural and medically-underserved populations while striving to increase the primary-care nurse practitioner workforce in Mississippi.
“Mississippi is primarily a rural state (55.14%) that is ranked as the poorest state as well as the state with the poorest health in the nation,” said Dr. Melanie Gilmore, Associate Professor and Program Director of the Family Nurse Practitioner program at USM. “Most College of Nursing graduate students remain employed while taking classes and often work full-time and beyond to meet immediate and extended family financial obligations. Traineeships are essential to offset the financial burden of nurses desiring to return to school in a poverty stricken state.”
“This traineeship grant along with our other HRSA grant to advance nursing education helps prepare independent clinical practitioners to provide much needed comprehensive care to our underserved state” said Dr. Lachel Story, Associate Professor and the College of Nursing's Assistant Dean for Research and Evaluation at The University of Southern Mississippi. “Students graduate in better position to graduate on time, pass certification, and are highly marketable for employment with the resources these grants provide.”
The Nurse Practitioner programs at USM prepares nurse experts in advanced practice and management for leadership in professional nursing practice and patient-centered healthcare delivery.
These education programs include didactic work and clinical practice experience with full-time and part time options. Each student completes courses in evidenced based practice (research and statistics), ethics and role development, and health care policy and finance.
For more information about the nurse practitioner programs at The University of Southern Mississippi's College of Nursing, visit http://www.usm.edu/nursing