FHC gets $4 million nursing grant

The four-year grant will provide $1 million each year, allowing the participation of 15 nursing students per year.

“The goal of the program is to provide quality health care services to rural and underserved communities through the use of the mobile health unit,” FHC Chief Executive Officer Leon A. Brunson Sr. said.

“The program will also be designed to increase entry to, and completion of, the bachelor of science in nursing degree program by students from underprivileged backgrounds, including racially diverse residents of rural South Carolina who are under-represented in the nursing profession, and promote employment in rural practice post-graduation,” he said.

FHC and Claflin University are partnering to increase and strengthen the diversity, education and training of the nursing workforce to provide culturally aligned, quality care in rural and underserved areas where there are health care disparities related to access and delivery of care.

This will be achieved by participation in the Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention-Mobile Health Training Program of the Bureau of Health Workforce, Division of Nursing and Public Health of the Health Resources and Services Administration.

The partnership between FHC and Claflin will emphasize recruitment of racial and ethnic minority students, and will provide them with academic and social support to help them complete their degree and obtain their licensure post-graduation.

The partnership is designed to strengthen the capacity of nursing students to address and manage social determinants of health and improve health equity for racially and ethnically diverse, vulnerable populations in rural and underserved areas.

The partnership will provide students pursuing a bachelor of science in nursing degree with enhanced education and training opportunities utilizing community-based, nurse-led mobile units.

The program will emphasize leadership and effective communication skills, and will use technological methods, including telehealth and the use of an electronic health records to coordinate patient care and ensure accurate and complete documentation of patient services, to deliver quality care in a rural environment.

The NEPQR-MHTP is designed to increase access to care for rural residents while providing a valuable experiential learning platform for the students. This, in turn, is expected to result in an increase in the number of graduating nurses who accept employment in medically underserved and rural areas.