University Of South Alabama Health Sciences Building — (University of South Alabama)

The University of South Alabama’s College of Nursing just earned a hefty grant to address a critical shortage of long-term and acute-care nurses in rural and underserved communities.

The grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration amounts to $3,986,638 and will be spread over four years to create a new program known as the Long-term and Acute Care Training to Promote Undergraduate Nurses’ Clinical Practice in Rural and Underserved Community Health Settings (LAUNCH).

The LAUNCH program will bolster USA’s already-successful nursing program — which is considered among the best in the state — by providing specialized training, cultural competence and workforce opportunities. In the last few years, USA enrolled its largest ever cohort of students in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program.

Equipped with a collaborative faculty team from USA’s College of Nursing and the Human Simulation Department, the LAUNCH program plans to recruit, retain and graduate BSN-prepared nurses to ultimately improve healthcare in rural areas.

Group Of Women Posing Outdoors. — The LAUNCH project is led by Dr. Leigh Minchew, associate dean and project director, alongside a collaborative faculty team from the College of Nursing and the USA Human Simulation Department, including Dr. Theresa Wright, Dr. Colleen Lynch, Dr. Bettina Riley, Dr. Jennifer Anderson, and Ms. Christy Shaw. (University of South Alabama)

Dr. Heather Hall, dean of the College of Nursing, said the grant is “invaluable” to the program:

“One of the major components of this program is to graduate BSN-prepared nurses with increased knowledge in caring for patients residing in rural and underserved areas and recruit preceptors who are prepared to serve as role models in the management of these patients.”

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