By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
In an effort to increase the number of highly-trained nursing professionals in rural Kansas, Fort Hays State University has received two federal grants totaling more than $4 million from the Health and Human Services Administration.
Making the announcement last week during a news conference was U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., alongside FHSU President Tisa Mason.
“When you look at the factors that determine the future prospects of a community, one of the most critical is access to healthcare,” Moran said. “It means families can stay, and babies can be born in our communities. And it means that our seniors can remain in their homes.”
Mason said the 93 percent pass rate FHSU nursing graduates posted on licensure examinations in 2022 is higher than the average among Kansas Board of Regents universities (86 percent), and higher than the national average (80 percent).
“The good news we are sharing today is the direct result of the way our nursing colleagues relentlessly pursue excellence in nursing education – at a time when the nursing shortage in rural Kansas is a very real challenge,” Mason said.
Jenny Manry, the chairwoman of the FHSU Department of Nursing, thanked Moran for his support and recognized the contributions of her nursing colleagues in the pursuit of the two grants.
"I first became interested in becoming a nurse when I was hospitalized along with my twin sister with pneumonia in the fifth grade," Manry told the crowd. "Since becoming department chair, I've had the opportunity to work with countless nurses and nurse practitioners who have a passion for rural western Kansas."
The first grant is a four-year Advanced Nursing Education Workforce Program grant for $2.6 million.
Michelle VanDerWege, assistant professor, said "students chosen to receive ANEW grant funding who plan to practice in rural western Kansas will receive more than $20,000 as a stipend for the final three years of the grant. And through this grant, we will provide onsite continuing education through national certification review courses and skills workshops free of charge to our preceptors and students."
The second grant is a Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention three-year $1.5 million award.
Tanya Smith, assistant department chairwoman and associate professor of nursing, said “the NEPQR-SET grant will be used to support expanded simulation training that prepares nursing students for service in rural areas. Students who indicate their plan to pursue positions planning west of Salina will receive $10,000 after completing a simulation residency in their final semester.”
Statistics shared by Mason from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing show that 100,000 nurses left the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2027, almost 900,000, or one-fifth of the 4.5 million total registered nurses in the U.S., intend to leave the workforce.
Nursing programs offered at Fort Hays State include the bachelor of science in nursing, the master of science in nursing, and the doctor of nursing practice program. The department is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.