Rural and Underserved Health Care Research
A $4 million, four-year grant from the Health Resource and Services Administration
(HRSA) to increase the number of Nurse-Midwives in the Delta region was awarded to
the college in September 2023. The HRSA grant will provide stipends to educate 12-14
nurse midwifery students annually and will allow an expansion of clinical learning
sites. Professor Kate Fouquier, PhD, APRN, CNM, FACNM, is the principal investigator
on this grant.
A $3.98 million, four-year HRSA grant was awarded to the college in 2022 for a nursing
mobile health unit that provides primary care in the underserved, rural counties of
Lake and Lauderdale. The goals of this effort are to increase health care access to
vulnerable populations while increasing variety in representation in the nursing workforce.
The grant also enables the integration of rural health care into the program curriculum.
The principal investigator is Director of Clinical Affairs and Assistant Professor
Diana Dedmon, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC.
Supporting Education
A $2.6 million, four-year HRSA grant renewal in 2023 provides stipends to support
the education of 19 advanced practice nursing students committed to serving rural
and underserved communities to increase health care access and variety in the nursing
workforce. The principal investigator is Professor Sarah Rhoads, PhD, DNP, WHNP-BC,
RNC-OB, APRN, FAAN, who chairs the Department of Community and Population Health.
A $1.5 million, three-year HRSA grant to fund a much-needed expansion of training
and certification for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners in West Tennessee was awarded
to the college in 2021. The goal of the grant is to increase access to timely, expert
care for all sexual assault survivors in West Tennessee. Within three years, 64 additional
nurses have started their SANE training in the 21 counties served by the grant. West
Tennessee Healthcare, which serves rural West Tennessee, has more than quadrupled
its number of SANE nurses since partnering with the college on the grant. Assistant
Professor Andrea Sebastian, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC, AFN-C, SANE-C, is the principal investigator.
A $1.5 million, three-year HRSA grant awarded in October 2023 will help students identify
and address issues related to health disparities that contribute to patients’ health
problems. The grant is called “Training and Education to Advance Critical Health Equity
Readiness Using Simulation,” or TEACH US. Assistant Professor Christie Manasco, PhD,
RN, CNE, is the project director for the grant which will use simulation-based experiences
to help students address factors related to access that improve health outcomes. The
simulations will use a standardized patient – a person acting in the role of a patient.
