$1.2 Million Grant to Become Nexus Innovations Incubator
The College of Nursing and Health Professions at the University of Southern Indiana has received a three-year, $1.2 million grant to teach nursing and health professions students how to practice collaboratively as effective members of healthcare teams. The grant was awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) division of Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Teams will be dedicated to improving the health of patients with high cost, complex medical, social and economic needs related to hypertension, respiratory disease, mental health and diabetes. Partnering with USI on the project are the Veterans Administration Medical Center at Marion, Illinois, which serves 52 counties in southern Illinois, southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky; and three USI nurse-managed health centers in the Glenwood, Cedar Hall and Lodge neighborhoods in Evansville, Indiana.
Through the HRSA grant, the USI College of Nursing and Health Professions will become a Nexus Innovations Incubator via a partnership with the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education located at the University of Minnesota. The center will provide mentorship to implement, build and evaluate the program.
“Our goal is to advance positive health outcomes for veterans and medically-underserved patients by cultivating interprofessional collaborative practice in urban and rural primary care settings,” said Dr. Ann White, dean of USI’s College of Nursing and Health Professions. “This grant will help us increase the number and quality of interprofessional educational clinical experiences for students in a variety of USI programs, including nursing, respiratory therapy, food and nutrition and social work.”
“We’ve been laying the foundation for interprofessional collaborative practice at USI for the past three years, and this grant will enable us to move forward in some new and exciting ways,” said Ruth Metzger, coordinator of interprofessional education in the College of Nursing and Health Professions. “As the program grows, we’ll integrate more professions and more partners.”