title: Nurses for Wisconsin: A Collaborative Initiative to Enhance the Nurse Educator Workforce.
abstract: Wisconsin, like much of the nation, is currently suffering from a growing nursing shortage. The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire College of Nursing and Health Sciences, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and University of Wisconsin Oshkosh nursing programs, took advantage of a University of Wisconsin System Incentive Grant for economic and workforce development to address this problem. With a $3.2 million award, the Nurses for Wisconsin goal is to increase the number of baccalaureate registered nurses by expanding the nursing education capacity within the University of Wisconsin System. Nurses for Wisconsin is accelerating the preparation of nursing faculty by supporting nurses to enroll in doctor of nursing practice or nursing doctor of philosophy programs with pre- and postdoctoral fellowship awards ranging from $21,500 to $90,000 and the recruitment of faculty with a loan repayment program of up to $50,000. In exchange for the financial support, fellows and faculty must make a 3-year commitment to teach in a UW System nursing program. Two conferences for program participants are also funded through the award. The first conference was held in October 2014. The second conference is scheduled for summer 2015. With the first year of the 2-year project completed, this article describes Nurses for Wisconsin from inception to implementation and midterm assessment with a focus on lessons learned. A follow-up article addressing final outcomes and next steps is planned.
authors.affiliation: Dean and Professor, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI, 54702-4004.. Electronic address: younglk@uwec.edu.
authors.forename: Linda K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: Grant Writer/Learning Resource Coordinator, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI, 54702-4004.. Electronic address: adamsj@uwec.edu.
authors.forename: Jan L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.affiliation: Dean, College of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, 53211.. Electronic address: slundeen@uwm.edu.
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lundeen
authors.affiliation: Dean and Professor, School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705.. Electronic address: kamay@wisc.edu.
authors.forename: Katharyn A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: May
authors.affiliation: Dean and Professor Emerita, College of Nursing, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Oshkosh, WI, 54901-8660.
authors.forename: Rosemary
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Dean Emerita, Nurses for Wisconsin, Project Director, Eau Claire, WI, 54702-4004.. Electronic address: wendtle@uwec.edu.
authors.forename: L Elaine
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Wendt
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D057217:Economic Development; D004511:Education, Nursing, Graduate / Q000379:methods*; D005181:Faculty, Nursing; D005257:Fellowships and Scholarships; D006280:Health Workforce; D006801:Humans; D009726:Nurses / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D014146:Training Support; D014922:Wisconsin
keywords: Economic development; Grant; Loan forgiveness; Nursing education; Nursing faculty shortage; Nursing shortage; Postdoctoral fellowships; Predoctoral fellowships; Workforce development