Essentia Health and North Dakota State University will be partnering to develop a Nurse Practitioner Residency/Fellowship Program for NPs working in rural clinics, thanks to a federal grant of $1.57 million over four years awarded to NDSU.
The program will emphasize rural clinical readiness, mental health treatment with a focus on opioid abuse, emergency care skills, childhood obesity and other topics. The program will also allow NPs to network with regional professionals and provide support throughout NPs' residencies, with the goal of increasing NP satisfaction and retention in rural areas.
North Dakota has vacancy rates of 13.44 percent for NPs, according to a report by the Governor's Nursing Workforce Shortage Planning Team. The program's first group of newly graduated NPs will begin their residency in fall 2019.