South Arkansas College in El Dorado has been awarded a $1.5 million grant by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
With the grant funds, the public community college plans to open a new pathway for students to become registered nurses.
The four-year DHHS grant of more than $1.5 million was awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration under the Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention-Workforce Expansion Program.
The NEPQR-WEP is intended to increase the nursing workforce in rural and underserved areas in order to address what is deemed a critical shortage, particularly in acute and long-term care settings.
“Arkansas has been facing a nursing shortage for several years,” SouthArk nursing program director Genevieve White said in a press release. “The growing challenge is due to many factors — an aging population that requires more care; a decline in nursing graduates; a consistent flow of experienced nurses’ leaving the profession. As a leader in workforce development, SouthArk is committed to working to close this gap and ensure our community has the skilled healthcare professionals it depends on.”
SouthArk already educates future registered nurses through its bridge program for licensed practical nurses, as well as educating students to become licensed practical nurses. Together, these two pathways produce close to 100 nursing graduates each year. The college also provides multiple options for students to train to become nursing assistants.
Through this grant, the college aims to develop a new program that will provide the education required to become a registered nurse without first being licensed as a practical nurse.
“Our LPN-to-RN bridge program is incredibly successful, but this grant is intended to support another option that would make it possible for students become registered nurses without having to be LPNs first,” a Facebook post from the college stated.
SouthArk is currently working through official launch timelines with multiple sanctioning bodies.
“Additional information will be released as further details are solidified,” the release stated.
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