The MHA Health, Research and Educational Foundation has received notification from HRSA that our grant proposal with South Sunflower County Hospital and Mississippi Delta Community College was selected for funding and implementation of the Delta Health Systems Implementation Program: The MS EARN (Mississippi Externship and Residency Nurse) Program. This effort will improve the nursing workforce recruitment, retention, and sustainability of the hospital. We look forward to working with everyone over the next two years.
The two-year grant period begins September 30, 2023, and completes September 29, 2025.
The Delta Health Systems Implementation Program (D-SIP) grant will develop an innovative externship expansion model for nursing students. Because South Sunflower County Hospital (SSCH) was a previous recipient of technical assistance through the Delta Region Community Health Systems Development Program in the last five years, SSCH is the only Delta hospital eligible for this grant funding. Therefore, South Sunflower County Hospital along with Mississippi Delta Community College School of Nursing are our partners.
This model will be piloted and begin with the regular summer externship then carry through the following fall and spring semesters until graduation. Not only does this model expand the externs’ experience but also serves as a recruitment tool for the hospital. There will be a planning phase that will include developing the curriculum, schedule of activities, preparing pre- and post- evaluation tools, preceptor training and any other preparations for the externs to begin the summer of 2024. The grant will cover wages for up to ten externs at the hospital for a year, travel for up to two hospital staff to attend a national and/or regional rural health care conference, as well as other benefits.
The Institutes of Higher Learning and the MHA Foundation are collaborating to bring hospitals and schools of nursing together. This student employment model will be an investment in the future nursing workforce within Mississippi.
Benefits for the school of nursing and student include:
- Fosters confidence and meaningful clinical experiences. Providing meaningful clinical experiences for students has become more problematic for schools of nursing due to limited access to medication administration systems, limited access to electronic health records, increased acuity of patients, and high turnover rate of patients.
- Takes care of patients under the supervision of a seasoned nurse to learn and gain foundational knowledge.
Benefits for the Hospital:
- Students will expand their skill set to function at a higher level than a traditional nursing assistant.
- Employers can grow their own staff by hiring students more than a year before they finish nursing school.
- Intentional recruitment and retention of student nurses.
- Organizational turnover cost avoidance.
- Student familiarization of hospital physical facility, staff, and facility informatics such as the electronic health records systems.
- Increased skill level, preparedness, and overall performance of new nurses.
For more information regarding this new work, please contact:
Lanelle Weems, MSN, RN
Executive Director
Mississippi Center for Quality and Workforce | MHA Health, Research and Educational Foundation, Inc.
(o) 601-368-3322 | (cell) 601-954-0758
[email protected]
www.mcqw.org