Projects
Massachusetts Center for Nursing (MCN)
The Massachusetts Center for Nursing is another component of NUCLI. This is a collaborative response of 36 nursing organizations and health care stakeholder groups to the serious and worsening shortage of nurses in Massachusetts. The Center is dedicated to identifying and implementing practices, programs, and policies that support retention and recruitment of registered nurses in Massachusetts. A website is being developed by canvassing numerous nursing and other organizations across the state to provide information and data links.
The MCN website offers information and resources on:
- The profession of nursing
- Career Development Opportunities
- Educational Opportunities
- Scholarship Opportunities
- Relocation information for out-of-state nurses
For more information on the Massachusetts Center for Nursing please visit their website at: www.nursema.org.
Regional Projects
Boston Region
Central Massachusetts Region
South East Massachusetts Region
Western Massachusetts Region
Boston Region
The goals of this project are to provide career coaching to 100 adult individuals interested in pursuing nursing as a career and to introduce a career in nursing to 100 youth. Boston projects are primarily concentrating on Career Coaching. There is one Career Coach for adults and one Career Coach for youth. Boston sites participating in this initiative are:
- Cambridge Health Alliance: one-one financial aide counseling, assistance with fulfilling prerequisite or developmental classes needed for acceptance into a nursing program.
- Sherill House: a long-term care facility with workers whose goal is to become a nurse in this bridge to nursing program.
- Brigham and Women's Hospital: Referrals to the Health Care and Research Training Institute that offers education and skills training for employees of institutions in the Longwood Medical area, assistance for workers who have defaulted on previous loans who are interested in returning to school to become a nurse.
- The Lahey Clinic:presentations to Lahey's nurse educators with follow up outreach sessions for additional Lahey staff. A workshop titled "Getting Started in Nursing" will be provided to individuals interested in pursuing a nursing education.
- Massachusetts General Hospital: Career Coaching services for individuals interested in pursuing a career in nursing.
Forgivable Loan Pool: The Boston Private Industry Council working with the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, will select 10 individuals employed in a Community Health Center who are either interested in pursuing a degree in nursing or are currently in a nursing program and experiencing financial difficulty. The adult Career Coach will work with these individuals as needed. Ultimately, upon successful completion of a nursing degree, these workers will commit to working in a Community Health Center. The goal for this project is 10.
Immigrant Healthcare Worker: A project that will identify two potential populations; immigrants who completed post-secondary nurse education in their native country that was equivalent to the training required for nurses in the U.S. and immigrants who completed post-secondary training in their native country as nurses or other clinical care professions, but such training was not equivalent to the training required for nurses in the U.S. The first population will receive coaching and assistance in applying for credential CGFNS and the Board of Nursing Registration, high-level ESOL, and NCLEX test preparation. The second population will receive college and career planning services, including financial panning assistance as well as college-prep ESOL. The goal to assist both populations is 40.
For more information on any of these projects, please contact Rebekah Lashman, Special Programs Manager at the Boston Private Industry Council, (617) 423-3755
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Central Massachusetts Region
- Middlesex Community College, Fitchburg State College and Emerson Hospital: A collaborative recruitment /retention project whose activities will include; nurses as mentors, and colleges sharing retention resources for at-risk nursing students. Services will be provided by the project Career Coach. Another role of the Career Coach for this project is to implement a mentoring workshop for nurses employed at Emerson Hospital.
- Mt. Wachusett Community College: a retention project utilizing a Career Coach to work with at-risk nursing students. The Career Coach will also be working with employers in the region. Additionally, the Career Coach is developing a survey tool to evaluate the experience of project participants with an emphasis on barriers to success.
For more information on any of these projects, please contact Sylvia Beville, Executive Director, Metro Southwest Regional Employment Board, (508) 665-5990
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South East Massachusetts Region
- Cape Cod Community College: A retention project designed to foster partner-college collaboration in the delivery of activities to improve retention of students admitted to the Nursing Program Class of 2005. The goal for this project is 69 graduates.
- Quincy College: A retention project for participants enrolled in the ADN program. The goal for this project is 15 graduates. Additionally, through a partnership with South Shore Hospital, they are selecting an individual from South Shore Hospital who will take on an 18- month sabbatical to be an Adjunct Nurse Instructor at the school.
- Bristol Community College: A fast track program for LPNs to become RNs. The enrollment plan is ten new nursing slots.
- UMASS Dartmouth: A retention project for individuals enrolled in a BSN program. The goal for this project is 20 graduates.
- UMASS Dartmouth: an increased capacity and retention project that focuses on BSN prepared clinical staff to enroll in a four-course certificate program in nurse education. A student teaching experience is included in this. Each of these nurses will be assigned as a faculty advisor/mentor to 5 undergraduate students. It is projected that there will be 8 nurses participating in this project, therefore mentoring 40 nursing students.
For more information about these projects, please contact Judith Coykendall, Project Director, at jcoykendall@comcast.net
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Western Massachusetts Region
- Springfield Technical Community College: A Nurse Education Expansion Initiative to enroll 32 new students into an evening Associate Degree Nursing Program (ADN).
- Berkshire Community College: A Recruitment/ Retention project for 22 students.
- Greenfield Community College: A Recruitment/Retention project for 27 nursing students.
- Holyoke Community College: An NCLEX preparation curriculum to be developed to teach NCLEX preparation to at-risk students. A potential 180-190 students will be able to participate in this prep course.
- The UMASS Amherst Future Faculty Initiative Project: A Nurse Education Expansion Initiative where three acute care hospitals develop clinical articulations with UMASS Amherst to identify 4 BSN's committed to graduate nursing study to become faculty. These four RN's from local employers upon matriculating into the Master's Program will mentor 8 nursing students each year in the UMASS Amherst nursing program.
- The Hampden County Regional Employment Board in partnership with Holyoke Community College is currently working on the development of a Nurse Refresher Course.
- Regional Career Coach: A Bridge to Nursing Project where individuals interested in pursuing nursing as a career at Heritage Hall (a long-term care facility in western Mass), receive career coaching to address any barriers to success and to develop resources needed to address those barriers.
For more information on any of these projects, please contact Charles Bodhi, Hampden County Regional Employment Board, (413) 755-1361.
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