Academic Progression for Nurses in Texas – RWJF Grant awarded to Texas Team

In August 2012, a Texas Team was awarded a two-year $300,000 grant from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to advance state and regional strategies aimed at creating a more highly educated, diverse nursing workforce. This is one of the recommendations in the Institute of Medicine report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. The grant funding was provided through a new RWJF program, Academic Progression in Nursing (APIN). Texas was one of nine states chosen to receive the funding. The project continues collaboration work between community colleges and universities started by a Perkins Leadership Grant which created the Consortium for Advancing Baccalaureate Nursing Education in Texas.

Dr. Helen Reid, Health Science Center Provost for Trinity Valley Community College, is the project director and Dr. Kathryn Tart, dean of school of nursing at University of Houston Victoria, is co-project director. The grant will advance baccalaureate nursing education in Texas using a state-wide model. Associate and baccalaureate degree nursing programs across Texas would adopt standardized general education courses along with concept-based curriculum of leadership, diversity, collaboration, quality and safety. This project will encourage strong partnerships between community colleges and universities in order to make it easier for nurses to transition seamlessly to higher levels of education. 

This type of innovative thinking is critical when meeting the growing demands of hospitals for nurses to complete higher levels of education. It will take stakeholders working together to ensure we have the nursing workforce needed to provide the proper healthcare needed for our communities. Kudos to our community colleges and universities for working together to develop articulation programs to ensure a smooth transition for nurses pursuing higher education.