Pathways and Partnerships: A Collaborative Model for Creating a Healthcare Superhighway
Presentation
Overview
Overview
Description
Purpose or Rationale – This presentation examines the impact of a multi-partner collaboration in creating a healthcare superhighway to address the nursing workforce shortage in one community. Emphasis is given to developing comprehensive, coordinated, and collaborative pathway and pipeline programs that increase enrollment and graduation capacity, retention to the region, and increase culturally competent care. Background or Significance – The national nursing shortage is well documented and acutely felt in individual communities across our nation and may be felt most in rural serving communities. This is a very complex and systemic problem, and many communities are struggling to identify and implement strategies that effectively remedy the situation. To address this challenge on a local/regional level, the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), Cape Fear Community College (CFCC), New Hanover County Schools (NHCS), and the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce (WCC) formed a partnership that included in-depth conversations with local healthcare employers to identify barriers and challenges that impact the nursing workforce shortage in our region. Through collectively exploring employer needs and institutional enrollment and graduation data, we understood the problem to be one of both production and retention, requiring a dynamic systems solution. The model integrates initiatives focusing on recruitment (input), instruction (throughput), and retention (output) all designed to graduate nursing students with a passion for living and working in our region. At the input stage there are several integrated pathway programs that connect students throughout the K-12 lifecycle. Collectively, these programs utilize evidence-based methods to close equity gaps and focus programs to support under-resourced students. Innovative wraparound services, recruitment, and retention support services are incorporated at each level of the academic and career progressions that incorporate culture building connections with local employers and the community. Methods and/or Data – Our partnership developed and implemented several integrated pipeline and pathway programs that provide multiple on ramps between the K-12 system, the community college, and the university for students to prepare for and pursue a healthcare career. The pipeline programs identify, support, and nurture individuals as they progress through education and career pathways in specific fields or industries. They focus on increasing access to educational and professional opportunities by addressing barriers such as financial limitations, academic challenges, or lack of representation. These pipeline programs provide mentorship, financial support, academic enrichment, professional development, and hands-on experiences, all aimed at building a robust and diverse talent pool to meet future workforce needs. Pathway programs are structured and guide students or individuals along a defined trajectory toward achieving specific academic, career, or professional goals. They provide a clear sequence of academic courses, skill-building opportunities, mentorship, and support services, helping participants transition from one stage of education or training to the next, while providing support from education to employment. They are often designed to bridge gaps between various educational systems (e.g., high school to college, or associate's degree to bachelor's degree) and create more seamless transitions into the workforce. The pathway programs aim to improve the success rates and outcomes for students by offering targeted support and resources regardless of the point at which they enter the healthcare superhighway. Major Outcomes – While we are early in the process, through the intentional structuring of pathway programs, continued building of community partnerships as well as enrollment and retention efforts, this partnership has been able to generate significant interest in nursing and other healthcare pathways. We have been able to implement strategies and provide additional resources to help retain students within programs and the healthcare workforce of our community. Conclusions and Implications – The nursing and healthcare workforce shortage is felt across the nation. This partnership realized that addressing our local workforce shortage could not be done in silo and would require a systemic and transformational approach to address the shortage and improve the healthcare provided in our community. We have not solved the issue in its entirety, but what we have developed and began to implement has created a more powerful partnership between educational institutions and healthcare employers to educate and retain more healthcare workers in our community.
