Hyden, Ky, Aug. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hyden, KY -- Frontier Nursing University (FNU) has been awarded the Advanced Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The grant totals $1,376,800 in funding from 2018-2020, including $600,000 in student scholarships.

The goal of the ANEW program is to support innovative academic-practice partnerships to prepare primary care advanced practice registered nursing students to practice in rural and underserved settings through academic and clinical training. The partnerships support traineeships as well as infrastructure funds to schools of nursing and their practice partners who deliver longitudinal primary care clinical training experiences with rural and/or underserved populations.   

As a university offering graduate nursing education and community-based clinical training using distance-learning strategies to reach students across the nation, FNU has the ability to have a widespread impact on primary care clinical education, and ultimately, on the quality and access to care in rural areas. Via the ANEW grant, FNU plans to support 350 nurse practitioner and nurse-midwifery students completing clinical training in rural areas with traineeship funds. This grant will also provide funds for the development of ANEW program infrastructure, implementation, and evaluation.

Through this very important program, FNU will identify and co-create improved curriculum and clinical training experiences in collaboration with academic-practice partners (APPs) who are directly affected by the healthcare disparities facing the rural communities where they practice. This joint venture with our academic-practice partners will make it possible for FNU to test, implement, evaluate, and improve training for primary care preceptors and Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) students.  

“We are honored to receive the ANEW grant and excited for the opportunities it creates,” said FNU president Dr. Susan E. Stone. “Since its founding, Frontier Nursing University has been committed to filling the gaps in quality healthcare available in rural and underserved populations. This grant will enable us to expand our impact and improve our ability to address healthcare disparities in communities across the country.”

The overarching goal of the FNU ANEW program is to expand formal academic-practice partnerships in order to co-design and implement strategies to enhance the preparation and distribution of APRNs and nurse-midwives practicing in rural settings. The steps to achieving this goal include four primary objectives:

Objective 1:  Improve student readiness to practice in rural primary care settings through co-designed and tailored didactic education and clinical training experiences through academic-practice partnerships.

Objective 2:  Recruit, train, support, and evaluate clinical preceptors located in rural areas nationwide as program partners in order to leverage the quality and distribution of primary care preceptors in rural settings.

Objective 3:  Provide 175 FNU students entering the clinical practicum in a rural setting with $2,000 in traineeship support each grant year.

Objective 4:  Improve the distribution of APRNs and nurse-midwives throughout rural communities across the nation via improved strategies to support and connect trainees with rural clinical experience to primary care employment in those same settings.  

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About Frontier Nursing University :

The mission of FNU is to educate nurses to become competent, entrepreneurial, ethical and compassionate nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners who are leaders in the primary care of women and families with an emphasis on underserved and rural populations. FNU offers graduate Nurse-Midwifery and Nurse-Practitioner distance education programs that can be pursued full- or part-time with the student’s home community serving as the classroom. Degrees and options offered include Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) or Post-Graduate Certificates. To learn more about FNU and the programs and degrees offered, please visit Frontier.edu.

Brittney Edwards Frontier Nursing University 8598992515 brittney.edwards@frontier.edu