School Receives Grant for Nursing Leadership in Rural Health Care
Date released: 22 Oct 2009
Written by Senior Communications Intern Hannah Walker
The University of Virginia School of Nursing received a $1.2 million Advanced Education Nursing grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This three year funding will help prepare more nursing leaders as specialists in rural health care with expertise in Community/Public Health Leadership (CPHL), Health Systems Management (HSM), or Psychiatric Mental Health (PMH). Students in the Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN) and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs will take an expanded specialty core, including rural health care leadership and cultural competence.
The Nursing Leadership in Rural Health Care project director, Doris Glick, PhD, RN, noted, “Data shows that nurses educated close to home are more likely to stay and work in their local communities after receiving an advanced degree. Through use of web-based courses we can educate nursing leaders for rural communities.” The project will strengthen and expand the School’s existing distance education program with an increase in accessibility through technology to provide graduate nursing education to rural nurses. In addition, the faculty will build partnerships with public and private health and mental health agencies to develop clinical experiences in the students’ home communities.
Front Row (L-R): Pamela Kulbok,
Catherine Kane, & Doris Glick. Back Row
(L-R): Kathleen Cox, Edie Barbero, &
Emily Hauenstein.
The project’s ultimate aim is to improve access to quality health care and to help eliminate health barriers and disparities in rural and underserved areas. Upon completion, graduates will be prepared to provide leadership and transform rural health care systems to better address the needs of rural populations.
In addition to project director, Glick, the team includes, project co-director and PHN coordinator, Pamela Kulbok (DNSc, RN), PMH coordinator and distance learning coordinator, Catherine Kane (PhD, RN, FAAN), HSM coordinator Kathleen Cox (PhD, RN), PMH faculty Edie Barbero (PhD, RN, PMHNP-BC), and rural faculty and Director of Southeast Mental Health Research Center, Emily Hauenstein (PhD, RN, LCP). The team of faculty worked together diligently to prepare the grant proposal and now look forward to fulfilling the objectives of the project.
School of Nursing
The University of Virginia School of Nursing stands among the top 5% in the nation, ranked 19th by US News & World Report; two of its graduate programs are currently listed in the U.S. News Top Ten. With a vigorous research program that includes studies in rural health care and disparities, oncology, gerontology, complementary therapies and nursing history, the School has implemented new programs and strategies to address the national nursing shortage and the concurrent need for more highly educated nurses to deliver increasingly complex health care. The recently opened Claude Moore Nursing Education Building and upcoming renovation of McLeod Hall allow for an enrollment increase and expansion of the Clinical Simulation Learning Center and the Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry. Dean and Sadie Heath Cabaniss Professor of Nursing Dorrie Fontaine, RN, PhD, FAAN, is the former associate dean for academic programs at the University of California San Francisco and a past president of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, the largest specialty nursing organization in the world. For more information about the UVA School of Nursing and its programs, visit www.nursing.virginia.edu.