Workforce DevelopmentDiversifying Our State’s WorkforceNursing Education Investment GrantsNursing Education Investment Grants – Grantees Nursing Education Investment Grants – Grantees
Explore project descriptions of current and past grantees.
Projects are noted for their distinct impact and alignment with the purpose and priorities of the Nursing Education Investment Grants Program. Current and past grantees include:
Awarded in 2024
Accelerating Regional Diversity and Supply of Registered Nurses in California’s Central Coast
Cuesta College will expand its Registered Nursing (RN) Program to address the Central Coast nursing shortage, offering an accelerated 12-month pathway for licensed vocational nurses (LVNs). By helping LVNs access RN careers, the project also impacts the diversity gap between the RN workforce and patient demographics. Students will also benefit from a new Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) prep course. Funding is sought for equipment and classroom upgrades, instructional supplies, and faculty time for course development.
SimuCARE: Bridging Clinical Gaps with Virtual Reality
Teaching with Virtual Reality (VR) simulation provides a powerful tool for creating a psychologically safe learning environment addressing the unique needs and challenges of Hispanic nursing students and high attrition rates. By promoting cultural representation, empowerment, positive role modeling, and supportive feedback, VR technology helps foster confidence, self-efficacy, and self-esteem among nursing students, ultimately contributing to their success in nursing education and practice.
Addressing Critical Need with the Expansion of a Licensed Vocational Nursing Program
This project supports expansion of the Butte College LVN program. The program currently admits 30 students every three semesters. Beginning January 27, 2025, 30 students will be admitted every semester, an increase of 60 students. Grant funds will be used to purchase equipment and supplies. District match/in-kind funding will be used to hire student support staff who will provide wrap-around case management to ensure that student supports for basic needs and mental health are available and accessible.
New Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) Program
Taft College Foundation requests funding to start an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) Program to provide skill sets and career opportunities to students, and to help meet future labor demands in Kern County and local communities. This new program has, in advance, received committed assistance from faculty of the nursing programs at both Bakersfield College and California State University, Bakersfield.
Awarded in 2023
Closing the Gaps on the Central Coast: A Transformative Academic and Work-Based Learning Pathway to Reduce Racial Barriers and Increase Equitable Access to Healthcare Careers is in response to the findings of a coalition of Central Coast system experts that explored workforce gaps and strategies to connect Hispanic/Latino youth to healthcare pathways in 2023. With this grant, Hartnell College will reinstate the Salinas Valley Health Professions Pathway (SVHPP), a scalable academic and work-based learning pathway model, and will plan and implement evidence-based strategies to address gaps in equity, academic readiness, and career access for students of color.
Building Patient Trust through Diversifying the Chabot Nursing Pipeline and Implementing Holistic Admissions Review, as part of the Chabot College Nursing Program, aims to diversify nursing education pipelines by increasing the number of underrepresented (African American/Black and Latinx) students in the Registered Nursing program. The project will revise the program admissions criteria to be more holistic, offer discipline-specific DEIA professional development opportunities, and provide pre-nursing coursework and support to increase enrollment and retention.
Allan Hancock College Culturally Responsive and Experiential Learning Curriculum in Nursing will develop a culturally responsive curriculum to enable deeper connections to content, teachers, learners, and success supports, and humanize realistic implementation of nursing strategies. The project includes professional development of nursing faculty on matters of diversity, equity, and inclusion, assessment of curricula and teaching pedagogies, learning experiences, and the implementation of strategies to enhance learning and better prepare the nursing students for professional practice.
Awarded in 2022
Racial Diversity in Simulation: An Opportunity to Enhance Nursing Curriculum will develop an action plan designed to reduce bias in simulated learning environments and enhance racial diversification in nursing education. The project encompasses three key objectives: (1) Manikins and task trainers which reflect diverse individuals, (2) Faculty development to explore issues of racial injustice and incorporate them into simulation curriculum, and (3) Increased and improved use of simulation with targeted learning objectives to eliminate racial discrimination in healthcare.
The Phase 2: Addressing Critical Need with Development of Associate Degree in Nursing (RN) Program will provide dedicated release time for faculty to complete the self-study report as part of the approval process with the Board of Registered Nursing. The project would also support the development of high school student pipelines in underserved communities by promoting enrollment and providing required course materials.
The Student Ready Mobile App will develop and pilot a student-centered mobile app to simplify nursing student onboarding for clinical rotations. Centralized Clinical Placement System (CCPS) is a web-based application that streamlines clinical placements and compliance tracking. CCPS’s Student Ready offering allows students to view and upload requirements for each clinical environment. A mobile app will help students who rely on smartphones equitably access clinical rotations, a critical need to diversify the workforce.
Faculty and Nursing Leadership Professional Development in Diversity, Equity, and inclusion (DEI), and DEI Committee Establishment in the Nursing Department will implement faculty Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) development leading to well-prepared and diverse nursing faculty. This will prepare faculty to develop a DEI Committee for continuous and ongoing improvement of equity outcomes in the nursing department. An adequate supply of highly-qualified, diverse nurse educators is critical to achieving successful educational outcomes in preparing competent nurses to address, organize, and guide DEI efforts in health care.
Awarded in 2021
The Addressing Critical Need with Development of Associate Degree in Nursing (RN) Program will provide funds for an expert consultant to produce a feasibility study that conforms to the requirements specified by the Board of Registered Nursing in order to develop an Associate Degree of Nursing (RN) program to support the critical need for nurses in the region.
Transforming Nursing Education to Produce an Equitable Workforce Using a Racial Equity Lens for the Salinas Valley will advance efforts to address systemic racism in curricula through the lens of social determinants of health (SDH) and education (SDE) relevant to students, their families, community, and faculty, and tackle an SDE by resuming negotiations for an affordable Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) pathway to California State University, Monterey Bay.
The A Path for All: Expansion and Diversification of the Successful RCC-CSU ADN-BSN Concurrent Enrollment Program (CEP) will expand existing ADN to BSN CEP pathway options and add an affordable, accelerated pathway to a master’s degree in nursing with a focus on targeted outreach and support care services designed to attract, recruit, and retain underrepresented minority students.
Awarded in 2020
The Collaborative Education: ADN to MSN for Students with a Non-nursing Bachelor’s Degree Program will create a pathway for Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) students with a non-nursing bachelor’s degree to transition into the Master of Sciences in Nursing (MSN) program at California State University, Sacramento. The project is a collaborative effort led by Sacramento City College and includes Sierra College, American River College, and Yuba College.
Awarded in 2019
The Del Norte LVN/Paramedic-RN Bridge Expansion: College of the Redwoods expanded a registered nursing pathway into a rural region that has critical nursing shortages.
The Concurrent Enrollment Program Implementation implemented and promoted scaling of a concurrent enrollment program that enables nursing students at community colleges to simultaneously progress toward bachelor of science degrees in nursing from California State Universities.
Awarded in 2017
Enhancements to the Centralized Clinical Placement System online technology tool for scheduling clinical placements aimed to increase healthcare education capacity by maximizing placement opportunities while improving the user experience for both clinical providers and nursing students.
Program Impact
