​Over the past decade, much emphasis has been placed on the importance of academic progression for the nursing workforce.
 
Scholars and health experts agree that higher levels of education increase delivery of quality patient centered care across all health care settings. However, obtaining and analyzing equitable national and state data regarding academic progression trends in nursing is no easy task. Multiple sources and researchers have benchmarked and cross walked key data sources over the years.
NEPIN, the National Education Progression in Nursing collaborative, sought to locate and evaluate a single data source to equitably interpret current trends in academic progression. Created as an expansion of the former Academic Progression in Nursing (APIN) initiative of the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, NEPIN is the only national entity solely devoted to ensuring that nurses have access to higher levels of education and achievement. Operating under the fiscal oversight of the OADN Foundation (a federally recognized 501c3 nonprofit organization), NEPIN’s stakeholders understand that successful patient outcomes depend on a well-equipped and sufficiently supported nursing workforce.

This 2021 Report explores the state of Registered Nurse (RN) and Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) pre-licensing nursing education in Connecticut and highlights:
 

• Student & Faculty Demographics at each of the Connecticut RN and LPN Schools & Programs of Nursing,
• Applications rates, educational capacity, and graduation rates, and
• Recommendations to expand the Nursing Education Pipelines in Connecticut

 
The report was created in collaboration with the Connecticut League for Nursing (CLN) and the Connecticut Data Collaborative (CDC). The data used in this Nursing Education Report was created from an annual survey the CLN disseminated to all the nursing schools and programs in Connecticut.

Your State’s Governing Bodies-  in Connecticut, we have our Governor’s Office and Governors Workforce Council, the Office of Workforce Strategy, the Department of Labor and Apprenticeship Division, the Connecticut Department of Public Health
In March of 2020, COVID was on our doorstep which accelerated dollars that would become available from the Federal government to the State of Connecticut. The Federal government under the CARES Act were provided to not only support the provision of health care and education but support all those businesses and individuals impacted by COVID. 
Connecticut was in receipt of $1.1 billion.  In addition to these relief funds through the CARES Act, new dollars are being earmarked for Connecticut through the American Rescue Plan Act- called ARPA. Of the ARPA monies received, $70 million is earmarked for workforce development across all sectors.
Summary & CLOSING:

• With so MANY reports, studies, executive briefings, etc.; it is important to cull the information and develop a workforce development document for YOUR State.  More importantly, create a document that can be UNDERSTOOD by a non-nurse and/or non-healthcare professional as these are the individuals that will be reading and vetting your proposal for possible funding.
• Lastly, reach out and schedule a meeting with your Development, Advancement of Philanthropic Offices to identify a grant writer who can research the resources and websites that I shared, engage your network or multi-sector partners that I highlighted and then connect with the WiBS or State Governing bodies to learn more about the ARPA dollars and other low hanging fruit funding opportunities to support your work!
• NURSES are the Solution… now its our job to let everyone else know that too!

​The role of the boards is to support workforce development in their specific region by attracting federal and state funding to meet employer needs.

• In CT, we have five workforce boards representing each region of our state.  The CLN had a contract with the Board in Bridgeport, CT.  For over 10 years, the board called The Workplace, Inc. implemented a Health Career Academy with the goal of attracting individual from the Bridgeport to Greenwich communities wishing to enter the healthcare workforce.  The Workplace, Inc. received $25 million from the Federal DOL and HHS offering free education, preparation, and job placement in one of (10) entry level healthcare roles…the RN was also included. 

 

• In Massachusetts, the structure is a bit different, there is an overarching group called MassHire and the Executive Director is Cheryl Scott. Massachusetts has 16 local boards throughout the state. You can find the location nearest you by going to Mass.gov and search for MassHire.

 

• In New Hampshire there is an organization called New Hampshire Works. It's a state workforce innovation board and there are 12 regional sites throughout the state. The individual running the Program is Roxie Severance. Find locations of your local boards at: www.NHsectorpartners.org

 

• In Vermont, one hub exists for the Vermont Workforce Board.  Information is shared on Registered Apprenticeships and how to become an eligible training partner to receive WOIA dollars. I did not see any local or regional sites listed. Site can be accessed at: www.VWDB.Vermont.gov.

 

• In Rhode Island the entity is Real Jobs RI.  There are two state workforce investment boards in addition to the overarching Governor’s Workforce Board. Information can be found at www.GWB.ri.gov

 
Very important to get your name out to these entities.  Boards can be the fiduciary to large grants you wish to secure via HRSA, HHS, etc. and take care of all the reporting… This is what they are good at.  Visit www.GRANTS.gov to see the hundreds of federal grants available for healthcare & nursing each year!

The National FORUM of State Nursing Workforce Centers, Inc. (The FORUM) is to collect accurate state-specific data pertaining to:  Determining the capacity of Nursing Education Programs at the RN and LPN levels via their MDS for Education; Understanding the Supply of Nurses via the MDS for Supply Survey; and Identifying the Workforce Demand identified of healthcare facilities and organizations that employ nurses via the MDS for Demand.  Website:  https://www.nursingworkforcecenters.org/
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Only CT and Vermont have entities in their states that are members of the FORUM.  CT would be happy to work with MA, NH, and RI to establish a connection with an existing organization within your states undertaking data work to become a member of the Forum.

The WHO report cites critical research and references as to why and how Simulation as well as other Virtual learning technologies can transform learning and better prepare our students to meet national competencies and successfully transition to practice thereby limiting the human capital and financial resources that our healthcare settings spend to onboard the new nurse. 
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Access the WHO Report at:  https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/dfigital-education-for-building-health-workforce-capacity-978-92-4-000047-6

This Report was prepared by the National Advisory Council on Nursing Education and Practice.

In their 17th Report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the US Congress this past December, is meant to inform the Secretary and Congress on Policy matters arising in the administration of Title VIII Funding pertaining to nursing workforce, nursing education and nursing practice.
Nursing Education is in crisis, and it will take ALL of us to stem the tide and expand our educational pipeline capacity!

​Report can be found at:  https://oadn.org/news/nacnep-report-preparing-nurse-faculty-and-addressing-the-shortage-of-nurse-faculty-and-clinical-preceptors/

In early June of 2021, the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action took a first step towards realizing the vision outlined in the National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM) new report, The Future of Nursing 2020 – 2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. A virtual Summit with 200 key opinion leaders, experts, and change makers across the fields of health care, nursing, business, academia, and social justice participated in the 2-day hands on event. Twenty-eight (28) teams were created to address each of the report’s 54 sub-recommendations (under its nine major recommendations), answered questions including, What multi-sector partnerships are needed to implement this recommendation? and What milestones or benchmarks will tell us we’ve succeeded?
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The result was 54 Draft Action Plans, each with specific tasks, timelines, and goals, that can guide how nursing will help transform health, health care and health equity for all.  Access the action plans and next steps @ https://campaignforaction.org/resources/future-of-nursing-2030-action-hub/

Resources are available for your organizations to utilize via your State Action Coalitions that undertook many initiatives related to the 2020 Future of Nursing Report published by the National Academy of Medicine. Even if your Action Coalition is not active, the national website for the Campaign still has a treasure trove of materials and toolkits refenced for your use- All free of charge.
In Connecticut, as one of the statewide initiatives via our Coalition, a 4- module online self-paced Population Health Course was created and launched. Although the activities and monies to support the Coalition have waned, The Board of the CT League for Nursing made a commitment to keep the course up and running with a major content revision and update competed in this past July.  This Course can be accessed at: www.CLNOnlineEducation.com
National Campaign resources can be found at:  https://campaignforaction.org/resources/#p=1

In the executive summary of this report, six out of eight priorities for nurse-led transformation directly correlate to the issues that you've identified in your thinktank white paper.  These include:

• Designing new models of care
• Empowering nurses to lead
• Cultivating the pipeline of new nurses
• Prioritizing well-being in mental health
• Enhanced partnerships with academia
• Building a Workforce for tomorrow- Planning at the regional & national levels

Report can be found at: https://nursing.jnj.com/accelerating-nursing-transforming-healthcare