Press Releases
Posted on Thursday, July 09, 2009 - General News
WSU Vancouver Nursing Workforce Program Receives $100K
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
7/9/2009
CONTACT:
- Dawn Doutrich, Intercollegiate College of Nursing, 360-546-9464, doutrich@vancouver.wsu.edu
- Office of Marketing and Communications, 360-546-9602, news@vancouver.wsu.edu
Vancouver, Wash. - The Board of Northwest Health Foundation awarded Washington State University Vancouver $100,000 for the diversity nursing faculty project. This project helps train RNs from other countries to qualify to practice in the U.S. after they have graduated from the Workforce Improvement with International Nurses (WIIN) program. This community-based, population-focused nurse educator certificate program is designed to meet the growing challenges of a shortage of qualified nurse educators. The ultimate goal is to improve culture competence in the nursing field to provide better healthcare outcomes locally and globally.
"There is a lack of diversity in the health care profession. The typical RN demographic is a 42-55 year-old, white, American-born female. An increase of diversity will mean a stronger workforce and ultimately better patient care," said WSU Vancouver Intercollegiate College of Nursing professor, Dawn Doutrich RN CNS.
The project aims to develop a pool of nurse educators from a variety of backgrounds and bring their unique global perspectives and understandings to nursing education. It is designed in collaboration with WIIN. WIIN prepares entry-level RNs by focusing on nurses who have been trained and credentialed in countries other than the United States.
The program has graduated four cohorts of 10-15 students, most of whom have passed the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) and are now working as registered nurses in the U.S. Students have come from countries such as Cuba, Japan, Romania, the Philippines and the Czech Republic.
WSU Vancouver is celebrating 20 years of bringing quality education, research and service to the citizens of Southwest Washington. The campus is located at 14204 NE Salmon Creek Ave., east of the 134th Street exit from either I-5 or I-205, or via C-Tran bus service. WSU Vancouver offers 16 bachelor's degrees, 10 master's degrees, one doctorate degree and more than 36 fields of study. Learn more at http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu.
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Image: Dawn Doutrich
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