SIUE’s Amy Reed Leads $4 Million HRSA Grant to Strengthen Rural Nursing Workforce

SIUE's Amy Reed Leads $4 Million HRSA Grant to Strengthen Rural Nursing Workforce

A transformative $4 million federal grant is positioning Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Nursing (SON) to help address one of healthcare's most pressing challenges by strengthening the nursing workforce in rural and underserved communities. Funded by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the four-year project, Enhancing Nursing Workforce Capacity in Rural and Underserved Areas: Addressing Shortages through Exposure, Enrollment, and Education, will expand educational pathways, strengthen community partnerships, and prepare future nurses to serve where they are needed most. The four-year, $4 million award is subject to annual federal funding and renewal.

Led by Principal Investigator Amy E. Reed, PhD, RN, CHSE, assistant professor and director of the Simulation Laboratory for Health Sciences, the interdisciplinary project brings together faculty members Sheri Compton-McBride, DNP, RN, Angela Andrews, PhD, RN-BC, CNE, Kevin Stein, DNAP, CRNA, APRN and Erica Frost, PhD, RN, CNE, CCRN. Through innovative simulation, enhanced clinical experiences, student support, and collaboration with rural, critical access, and long-term care healthcare partners, the initiative aims to increase the number of highly skilled, resilient nurses entering rural and long-term care practice while improving access to quality healthcare for underserved populations.

In this Q&A, Reed reflects on the excitement of receiving the award, the inspiration behind the project, its impact on nursing education, and how the grant will benefit students, healthcare partners and communities throughout the region.

How did you feel upon hearing the news that you received the grant?

When I received the news from HRSA, I was excited and a bit surprised! Because this proposal had been submitted over a year ago, it was unexpected to learn that it had not only been funded but funded at the full $4 million level. The team had poured a great deal of time, thought, and collaboration into the proposal. It is an exciting opportunity to make a real impact on nursing workforce development.

How did you come about the subject matter?

The HRSA Grant Call spoke of the ongoing struggle to recruit and retain nurses in rural and long-term care settings, areas that are critical to community health yet often overlooked. Our team recognized that many nursing students have limited exposure to these environments during their education, and that early, positive experiences can play a key role in shaping career paths. This grant gave us a way to create intentional pipelines, from recruitment through enrollment and ultimately into practice, to help address those workforce shortages. This grant also has aspects related to wellness, creating a workforce that is resilient and understands the challenges of the profession and is ready to meet them head-on.

How will this affect your work moving forward?

This award has already allowed us to expand our partnerships with community colleges and healthcare agencies in rural and underserved areas, enhance simulation and clinical experiences that mirror those settings, and provide innovative academic support and scholarships for students. For me personally, it strengthens the link between simulation-based education and workforce readiness, a connection I'm passionate about. It also provides an avenue to evaluate long-term outcomes, helping us better understand how educational strategies translate into real-world workforce impact.

Is there more information you wish to share about the grant, its scope, and who will benefit?

The project will benefit a broad range of stakeholders, students, faculty, and rural and long term care healthcare partners alike. Nursing students will gain enriched clinical and simulation experiences that prepare them for the realities of rural and long-term care practice. Faculty will have new opportunities for professional development and curricular innovation. Most importantly, patients and communities in underserved areas will ultimately benefit from an increased supply of well-prepared nurses. The scope of this work reflects HRSA's mission of improving access to quality healthcare, particularly in communities that need it most.

Reed's co-investigators emphasize how this work will strengthen the nursing pipeline from recruitment through practice.

"My role as a co-investigator centers on designing and implementing a collaborative recruitment strategy that reaches students across the nursing pipeline," said Stein, noting that outreach, hands-on camps, simulation and virtual reality will help make nursing education more visible and attainable while preparing more nurses to serve rural and underserved communities.

Andrews added, "What makes this grant so exciting is that it provides students with both financial support and specialized training in rural and older adult health, two areas where the need for well-prepared nurses is especially critical."

PHOTO: Amy Reed