Innovative Nursing Retention Program to Expand with Aid from Grant

Nursing faculty at Texas Woman’s University will use a $163,016 award from the Nursing Innovation Grant Program to expand a program that is helping nursing students sharpen their skills.

The Student Success Program, established at TWU’s Houston campus in 2000, is a student retention program which aids nursing students who are challenged by the pace during the most rigorous part of their education. The primary goal of the program is to help students develop critical thinking skills needed in a health care setting.

The innovative grant will be used to expand the program to TWU’s Dallas campus this summer and to extend the program’s length from two to five semesters on the Houston campus. Students entering the program are juniors who have completed their core classes and are beginning intensive nursing instruction and clinicals.

"We’re seeing results and we have students asking to participate in the program," said Dr. Carolyn Gunning, dean of the college of nursing at TWU.

The Houston campus has experienced a higher student retention rate since the program’s implementation, and Gunning anticipates similar results once the program expands to the Dallas campus.

"Expanding the program to five semesters provides continuity to students as they complete their nursing degrees," Dr. Gunning added. "Offering the program in Dallas is something we have wanted to do since seeing how well it works in Houston."

The Nursing Innovation Grant Program was established by Senate Bill 572, sponsored by state Sen. Mike Moncrief (D-Fort Worth). In testimony before the Senate Health Services Committee last year, nurses and hospital administrators said Texas needs to add approximately 28,000 more nurses to meet staffing demands in the next two decades. SB 572 identified student retention programs – such as the Student Success Program – as one means of meeting that need.

TWU faculty who received the grant are Dr. Lene Symes, an assistant professor of nursing in Houston, and Dr. Suzanne Carr, an assistant professor of nursing in Dallas.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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