Avila University was recently awarded a $298,016 grant by the Missouri State Board of Nursing “to help enhance nursing education programs and develop solutions to help alleviate staffing shortages felt nationwide.”
“The grant funding was allocated for workforce development to bring more nurses into the nursing workforce. As Tracy Koehler (Avila assistant professor) likes to say, we want to bring safe, educated, quality nurses to the patient’s bedside,” said the Chair of the School of Nursing, Angel Yanez, DNP.
The School of Nursing intends to use the grant to help:
- Hire nursing faculty
- Increase innovative technology
- Recruit and provide opportunities for non-traditional students
“We plan to offer online education for more non-traditional students, whether those students come to nursing from other careers or live in rural areas and don’t have easy access to a traditional campus,” said Yanez. “We want to bring education to them and offer innovative ways to complete their clinical education.”
Thanks to the grant, one of the innovative ways the School of Nursing will utilize is the addition of high-tech virtual simulations “similar to virtual 3D gaming that immerses you in a scene. Nursing students can participate in virtual patient care this way, and research has shown that learning is as impactful as what they learn in a hospital setting,” said Yanez. “This grant helps Avila secure its place as the university of access for the Kansas City metro and beyond.”
