More than $250,000 will go to new and continuing efforts by Sonoma State University's nurse practitioner programs to serve the health care needs of rural communities thanks to grants awarded yesterday.
The SSU Family Nurse Practitioner Program has been awarded a $100,000 Special Projects Grant from the Song-Brown Commission of the Office of Statewide Planning. SSU earned the only grant awarded and placed ahead of UCLA, Stanford, Western University, Holy Names, and UC Davis.
This grant provides development and implementation funds for a new online Certificate Program in Rural and Community Health Clinic Management specifically designed for nurse practitioners and eventually physician's assistants. The three-semester program is committed to training 40 students in the next two years as it becomes established and will eventually be available throughout the state.
In awarding the grant, the Song-Brown Commission commented that it was an "exceptionally well written grant demonstrating outstanding innovation in rural practitioner education to meet the ongoing needs of rural and frontier communities."
The SSU Family Nurse Practitioner Program was also awarded $156,112 program funding for continuing excellence in rural distance graduate nurse practitioner education meeting the needs of medically underserved populations in northern California.
This funding supports distributed learning technology, student experiences in client care with underserved populations, and partnership with the Santa Rosa Sutter Family Practice Residency Program.
SSU was ranked second behind UC Davis and ahead of Azusa Pacific, Stanford, California State University Long Beach, UC Irvine, Charles Drew Medical Center, UC San Francisco, USC, Riverside Community College, and UCLA.
"The receipt of more than $250,000 for the SSU Family Nurse Practitioner Program from the Song-Brown Commission is a monumental accomplishment and due to the extraordinary efforts of Dr. Wendy Smith, Director of the Family Nurse practitioner program," says Liz Close, chair of the SSU Nursing Department.
