The UT Health Science Center College of Nursing and the nursing programs at UT Martin and UT Southern are working to increase access to health care and expand the nursing workforce in rural West Tennessee.
A $300,000, 17-month grant from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development will fund the Tennessee Rural Nurse Scholars program for eight nursing students: four at UT Martin and four at UT Southern. The students will receive financial support in their final year of nursing school, a paid student nurse internship experience, and additional training through an online rural health medallion program.
A $500,000 UT Grand Challenge Grant will launch three One UT-branded rural health units to provide outreach, education and training to the community and the health care workforce. One unit will be sent from each of the campuses: UT Martin, UT Southern, and UT Health Science Center. Strengthening rural communities is one of the three Grand Challenges – complex, interconnected, large-scale problems that create uncertain futures.
UT Health Science Center College of Nursing Dean Wendy Likes, Ph.D., DNSc, APRN-BC, FAAN, FAANP, is the principal investigator on the Tennessee Rural Nurse Scholars program. UT Martin nursing program Chair and Professor Mary Radford, Ed.D., MSN, BSN, and UT Southern Assistant Professor Randi Tuten, DNP, FNP, BSN, are lead instructors for the program. “The collaboration of our three nursing programs truly exemplifies the BE ONE UT Values, especially the ‘united and connected’ category,” Dr. Likes said. “These grants are unique innovative opportunities to expose our students to rural health as a career option and to help prepare them. We are excited to partner with UT Martin and UT Southern in this work.”
Students and faculty on the Tennessee Rural Nurse Scholars grant gathered at UT Health Science Center last week for an event that included telehealth training, a tour of the UTHSC Nursing Mobile Health Unit, a tour of the Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Simulation (CHIPS), and a rural poverty simulation.
Tennessee ranks 44th in the nation for health outcomes, with rural residents experiencing grave disparities versus their urban counterparts. Health care workforce shortages also plague rural areas, in part due to isolation and limited professional development opportunities.
The Tennessee Rural Nurse Scholars program was modeled on a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor that supports nursing graduates in their transition to work in rural or underserved hospitals. Students from this program, called the Delta Nurse Scholars Program, joined the students from UT Martin and UT Southern for the day of rural health care learning. The principal investigator on this grant is Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Programs Randy Johnson, Ph.D., RN.
Dr. Tuten of UT Southern said the Tennessee Rural Nurse Scholars program will give the students a realistic idea of working in rural areas. “It will allow them to see issues specific to these patients, the social determinants of health such as access to transportation, access to specialists, and telehealth access.”
The program came at just the right time for UT Southern student Keidra Gardner, 28, of Goodspring, who was using savings from her previous job at the Frito-Lay factory to cover the cost of her nursing degree. “Without this program, I would probably would have had to withdraw,” she said. “It’s like a second chance.”
Gardner earned her first bachelor’s degree in business administration but could only find factory work in her area. She decided to become a nurse because she enjoys helping people and was seeking greater job stability. She looks forward to the emphasis on rural health care that the program offers. “It helps me to learn more about the community and is a way to give back to the community.”
The health care institutions involved in the Tennessee Rural Nurse Scholars grant include the Southern Tennessee Regional Health System in Pulaski, Baptist Memorial Hospital in Union City, and the UTHSC Nursing Mobile Health Unit. The program will serve Giles, Lake, Lauderdale, Obion and Weakley counties.
UT Martin student Emmalee Bruner of Union City said she appreciates the rural emphasis of the program because she has seen first-hand the problems of health care access in rural areas. Bruner is committed to rural nursing. “I was born at Baptist in Union City, and I hope to work there when I graduate,” she said. Dr. Radford said the daylong program gave her students “an appreciation of all of the activities going on in the health science center to prepare them as rural nurses to go out and help rural Tennesseans. Nursing is so special. We can teach; we can treat; we can help in so many ways.”
PHOTO: Shown taking part in the Tennessee Rural Nurse Scholars program are (front row, l-r) Madeline Young, UT Martin, Gates; Sophia Iacobelli, UT Southern, Campbellsville; Kaylee Knight, UT Southern, Fayetteville; Emmalee Bruner, UT Martin, Troy; (middle row, l-r) Dr. Mary Radford, chair, UT Martin Department of Nursing; Keidra Gardner, UT Southern, Goodspring; Dr. Randi Tuten, assistant professor of nursing, UT Southern; (back row, l-r) Dr. Wendy Likes, dean, UT Health Science Center College of Nursing; Ansley Pfeffer, UT Martin, Ashland City; Natalie Taylor, UT Martin, Huntingdon; and Emily Watson, UT Southern, Cornersville.
