The University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing in Omaha has received a three-year, $2.2 million grant to support resiliency in the nursing workforce.
With the grant, the medical center will join partners in Nebraska to develop and deploy resources focused on resiliency and mental health in registered nurses and advanced practice registered nurses in rural and medically underserved areas, as well as their employers, according to a Feb. 18 hospital news release.
Specifically, the medical center will focus on evidence-based wellness interventions and providing subsequent resources to critical access hospitals and other healthcare facilities in the state, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing Assistant Professor Alyson Hanish, PhD, MSN, RN, said in the release.
"The health of nurses has to be a priority. We will implement evidence-based wellness interventions to keep our workforce healthy so they can provide the best healthcare to their patients," she added. "By providing resources to address escalated burnout and mental health conditions, we aim to improve the recruitment and retention crisis of nurses."
As part of the grant, for example, the medical center will tailor a stress management program known as WHOLE (Wellness — How One Lives Effectively), to meet needs of nursing students and the nursing workforce.
Rebecca Wysoske, MD, who developed the program with others from the medical center's psychiatry department, said in a news release that the program will include ways to manage acute stress, as well as self-care, meditation and other strategies for stress relief.
The medical center will implement WHOLE at all five campuses of the nursing college, according to the Omaha World-Herald. Nurses already working at hospitals in the state, particularly smaller ones, can participate in the program as wellness training and receive free continuing education credits, the newspaper reported.
The grant is funded through HHS.