Regional Expansion of Nurse Practitioner Education and Workforce in Oregon

In July 2019, the OHSU School of Nursing was awarded a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to ensure that all Oregonians have access to high quality healthcare and the distribution of the primary care workforce meets the needs of all Oregonians. The purpose of RENEW Oregon: Regional Expansion of Nurse Practitioner Education and Workforce in Oregon is to expand academic-clinical partnerships that prepare and graduate academically and clinically prepared family nurse practitioners (FNP) and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNP) to improve access and meet the primary health care needs of rural and urban underserved populations in Oregon. The goals of this grant are to:

• Establish and extend academic-practice partnerships and clinical placements for Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students in FNP and PMHNP programs in rural and urban underserved communities in Oregon. RENEW Oregon has expanded and developed student placements with clinical partner agencies in rural target communities in response to workforce needs in 10 frontier and rural counties in Oregon. The team has also partnered with the Multnomah County Health Department to meet workforce needs with urban underserved neighborhoods and populations. At all partner sites, RENEW Oregon is providing preceptor training, mentorship and evaluation to sustain preceptor engagement in clinical education.
   
• Recruit, admit, and graduate primary care nurse practitioners (FNP and PMHNP) from rural and urban underserved communities who are competent and committed to practicing in areas of workforce need in Oregon following graduation. We have developed and executed a marketing plan to recruit nurses from rural and urban underserved communities into FNP and PMHNP programs; provided traineeships for eligible DNP students who are committed to practicing in rural and urban underserved populations; and are in the process of developing an educational model that will be effective for students in rural and underserved communities; and arranging longitudinal clinical experiences for FNP and PMNHP students at partner agencies. The team is ensuring that the PCNP curriculum includes content and clinical experiences with telehealth to enhance competencies of graduates and improve access to healthcare for rural communities. Process has been set up for career planning for trainees that will connect them to employers in rural and underserved communities, and document employment retention.
   
• Engage FNP and PMHNP students in collaborations with rural and underserved communities and clinical partners to develop and lead quality improvement projects that contribute to best practices and/or value-based healthcare delivery by June, 2020.The DNP curriculum was evaluated and refined to ensure that FNP and PMHNP programs prepare students for practice with rural and underserved populations. Students have completed final DNP projects that address local systems and quality issues, and will disseminate outcomes of projects with partner organizations and stakeholders as well as the OHSU community (students and faculty) at the end of the academic year.

Learn more about the Family Nurse Practitioner Distance Program

Learn more about the Psych Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Distance Program