Hays Med gets grant to boost workforce
By KALEY CONNER
Hays Medical Center has received a large federal grant in efforts to boost the rural health workforce. The one-time grant, awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration, will be distributed in the amount of $200,000 during the next three years.
The money will be used to launch a new registered nurse training program for 23 critical-access hospitals. It's hoped the Rural Northwest Kansas Residency Program will improve recruitment and retention of newly certified nurses, said Bevra Brinkman, a clinical nurse specialist at Hays Med.
"It's really the opportunity to bridge the gap between the academic environment and the clinical settings," she said. "And that's really the gist of the program."
A total of $32 million was awarded nationwide for rural health initiatives. Hays Med was the only Kansas hospital that received rural workforce funds. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment also received money as part of a Medicare rural hospital flexibility program, and the University of Kansas Medical Center was awarded a grant for a telehealth resource center.
The residency program, which is expected to begin in January, will provide 12-week training opportunities for new graduates. The HRSA dollars will be used for Hays Med to hire a program director, who will visit outlying hospitals to help establish rural residency programs, Brinkman said.
North Central Kansas Technical College has partnered with the initiative and will be providing access to the nursing department's lab simulation equipment. It's hoped that the nurses will receive most training at their hometown hospitals, said Chief Nursing Officer Terry Siek.
Many small rural hospitals typically are hesitant to hire nurses fresh out of school, Brinkman said, due to their limited clinical experience.
"We're hoping to try to transition that and help them bring on new grads to be a part of their organization to give patient care," she said. "Along with that is to even be attractive to new grads. New grads being in charge after they've been off of orientation ... is very frightful, so we want them to be confident and competent at those organizations and feel a real commitment to what they're doing in those organizations."
While many hospitals offer some type of orientation or training program, the goal is to provide a more in-depth experience. The grant funds also will help offset the participating hospitals' cost in allocating more employee time for training.
The program also will be tailored to the specific needs of rural health care, Siek said. A pilot program recently was launched at Larned's Pawnee Valley Community Hospital, which is operated by Hays Med.
"One area that we know we have to beef up ... is ER," he said. "Everybody that goes to a critical-access hospital needs to be prepared to work in an (emergency department.) Not every nurse that comes to Hays Medical Center needs to know how to work in an ED."
Hays Med launched its own 18-week nurse residency program in fall 2008. That program has been so successful that expanding similar training to other areas seemed like a natural progression, Siek said.
"I've seen increased confidence in the new grads. I've seen increased skill level," he said. "We've also seen them progress a little faster with increased competence and skill level."
Retention is another key issue. Turnover rates historically have been high for newly hired registered nurses, but Siek said that trend has slowed in hospitals where nurse residency programs are offered. At Hays Med, the current RN retention rate is 78 percent, up from 50 percent two years ago, he said.