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XAVIER UNIVERSITY AWARDED ADVANCED EDUCATION NURSING GRANT FROM UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT

06/25/08

Xavier University has been awarded $809,090 from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration to develop a Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) concentration within its Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program.  The CNL specialty will enable experienced, practicing RNs to develop advanced skills that allow them to remain at the bedside as an advanced generalist coordinating very complex care in a holistic manner for patients in all health care institutions.  

The CNL is a national initiative developed by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in 2004 to improve health care delivery systems and increase nurses’ job satisfaction and long-term retention.  Xavier’s new MSN concentration will build upon the tremendous success of Xavier’s Master of Science in Nursing: Direct Entry as Second Degree (the MIDAS program), one of two programs in Ohio to offer a pre-licensure master’s degree and the only program in the Cincinnati area to prepare clinical nurse leaders.

By increasing the number of highly qualified, advanced education nurses prepared to address increasingly complex health care needs, the program will enhance primary care services in urban and rural underserved communities in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.  The program also aims to increase diversity in the advanced education nursing workforce by enrolling qualified nurses from disadvantaged and underrepresented minority backgrounds.  A further goal is address health disparities by educating CNLs for public health professions and community-based positions in underserved areas.

The program will admit at least 20 students each year, beginning in fall 2008.  The required 43 credit hours can be completed by nurses with bachelor’s degrees in four full-time semesters or up to seven part-time semesters. RNs with associate degrees or diplomas can enter the MSN-CNL program after completing bridge courses to help them succeed in graduate work. Upon completion, graduates will be eligible to take the Clinical Nurse Leader Certification Exam and the American Holistic Nurse Certification Exam.  

In addition to developing the CNL concentration, the three-year grant project will facilitate conversations among area partnering facilities to help them redesign their infrastructure to ensure the health professions workforce can effectively incorporate the CNL role into work environments.  Twelve institutions have partnered with Xavier to support this new role.  These include eight hospital systems (Drake Center, TriHealth, Summit Behavioral Healthcare, Fort Hamilton Hospital, Mercy Health Partners, Cincinnati Veterans Administration Hospital in Ohio; St. Luke Hospital and St. Elizabeth Hospital in Kentucky), the City of Cincinnati Public Health Department, Norwood Health Department, MJ Nurse Registry, and the Alzheimer’s Association.

“VA has implemented the CNL role as an integral part of the medical interdisciplinary teams and created four positions,” said Jeannette Criswell, Cincinnati Veterans Administration Hospital Chief Nurse Executive.  “They function to facilitate patient care - rounding with teams, bringing information related to care, having responsibility for several patient performance measures, assuring specific clinical measures are being addressed such as heart failure patient education, assisting the team with coordination of care and discharge planning, and following up post-discharge to identify customer satisfaction and patient care issues that can be addressed to support patient care, as well as facilitating care within the nursing team and directly with patients.”

Xavier’s BSN and MSN programs are approved by the Ohio Board of Nursing, accredited by CCNE and endorsed by the American Holistic Nurses Certification Corporation. 

Dr. Cynthia Sublett, DNSc, RN, will serve as the associate project director.  A certified CNL, Dr. Sublett has taught courses and coordinated practicum experiences in the MIDAS program.

“This grant offers Cincinnati and its surrounding area a tremendous opportunity to not only be at the cutting edge of nursing practice but also to offer what is the best of patient care to our constituents,” said Sublett. “Working together with our partners and the expertise of potential students who will enter the nursing program, patient care services in all of the partner institutions can only be better than it already is. The nurse graduating from this program will remain focused on patient care at the point of care, whether that is at the bedside in the hospital, in the home, or in a community agency. The Xavier University nursing department looks forward to its role in advancing the care of all of the patients in this community.”

The program is currently accepting applications. For more information, please call Marilyn Gomez, Director of Nursing Student Services, at 513-745-4392 or email Gomez@xavier.edu.

The Advanced Education Nursing Program, administered through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, funds projects that enhance advanced nursing education and practice in master’s and doctoral programs, combined RN/master’s degree programs, post-nursing master’s certificate programs, or, in the case of nurse midwives, certificate programs.

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Xavier University is a private university located in Cincinnati, Ohio, providing a liberal arts education in the Catholic, Jesuit tradition. Founded in 1831, the university is the sixth-oldest Catholic university in the nation.  U.S. News & World Report ranks it No. 2 among master’s-level universities in the Midwest, and The Princeton Review names it as one of the “Best 366 Colleges in America.”