GVSU receives federal grant to collaborate with two health systems to educate more nurse practitioners

Grand Valley received a four-year, $2.6 million federal grant to continue working with two health systems to prepare more nurse practitioners who have interest in primary care, working in rural or underserved areas or in mental health.

The Kirkhof College of Nursing will work with McLaren Health Care and Trinity Health Muskegon to recruit and educate 37 nurses from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds over the course of the grant in the college's Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program. 

Katherine Moran, associate dean for KCON graduate programs and research, is the principal  investigator and project director for the grant. Moran said the Health Resources and Services Administration grant continues an initial grant from 2019  that supported 20 students in the DNP program, in collaboration with the same two health systems.

One key to the grant's success has been the partnership among the partners, Moran said.

"Both McLaren and Trinity Health Muskegon are recruiting from the communities these nurses will serve," Moran said. "These are working nurses who have expressed a desire to enhance their education in primary care, mental health, or substance use disorder care."

The grant includes three DNP pathways: adult/older adult primary care, family nurse practitioner, and psychiatric mental health. Recruitment is underway and students can enroll for the upcoming fall semester.

Students in the DNP program attend classes mostly online with high-impact learning sessions on campus one or two times a semester. Learn more about KCON's Doctor of Nursing Practice program online.

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The four-year Advanced Nursing Education Workforce Grant supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) totals $2,592,857 with zero percent financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views or, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.