TAMIU College of Nursing and Health Sciences Gets THECB Nursing Innovation Grant Award
A $90,000 grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to Texas A&M International University’s (TAMIU) College of Nursing and Health Sciences’ Dr. F. M. Canseco School of Nursing will provide a new nursing simulation laboratory for student nurses.
The Nursing Innovation Grant Award, awarded under the 2020-2022 RFA, “Supporting Clinical Learning Experiences to Mitigate Impediments due to COVID-19,” seeks to address the nursing shortage by developing and expanding innovation relating to nursing simulation. In particular, the Grant supports the clinical training of students whose clinical learning experiences have been directly impacted by COVID-19 Pandemic.
The Grant was open for competitive application to all publicly funded initial RN licensure education programs in the state approved by the Texas Board of Nursing.
TAMIU Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences Dr. Marivic Torregosa said the Grant makes critical training possible.
“Unfortunately, the COVID-19 Pandemic has resulted in many clinical sites becoming unavailable or closed for our nursing students. Through these Grant funds and increased simulation lab space, our nursing faculty will be able to develop innovative simulation scenarios that involve high fidelity, and that are reflective of the real world of nursing practice. The knowledge and skills learned from high fidelity simulation, in addition to direct patient care clinical practicum experiences, are essential for the development of the critical-thinking ability of the future Texas nursing workforce, especially in this underserved region,” Dr. Torregosa explained.
TAMIU clinical assistant nursing professor Sara Melendez is Principal Investigator for the Grant. Clinical assistant nursing professor Lisa Heard is Co-Principal Investigator.
Melendez said the new stimulation lab has research implications for both TAMIU students and faculty.
“The new simulation lab will be a space for faculty to develop and test simulation scenarios that help inform best practices of nursing education and training. In this lab, faculty will be able to evaluate gaps in nursing education clinical training by evaluating students’ performance in simulation through standardized measures, which would then guide and inform curriculum change,” Melendez noted.
Heard said the grant also capitalizes on faculty expertise in the Canseco School of Nursing.
“This Grant will capitalize on the expertise of the faculty who are actively practicing clinicians. Because our School of Nursing faculty are still actively practicing nurses in an advanced role in the clinical settings, they have insights on what types of skills and training nursing students must have to be prepared for the workforce,” Heard observed.
In addition to an online RN to BSN degree, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences offers other nursing programs such as traditional BSN program, and BS programs in Communication Disorders and Kinesiology Health Science. A Master’s in Nursing Administration (online), and the new MSN Online Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Program are also available. The BSN and MSN programs have full accreditation from the Texas Board of Nursing and the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing.
For more information, call 956.326.3110, email anna.buentello@tamiu.edu or click on https://www.tamiu.edu/conhs/
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