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Appalachian Highlands Center for Nursing Advancement
BALLAD HEALTH, ETSU CREATE CENTER TO INCREASE PIPELINE OF OPPORTUNITY
Ballad Health has committed a $10 million investment to create the Appalachian Highlands Center for Nursing Advancement at East Tennessee State University.
The Center will be dedicated to bringing nursing, business, liberal arts, education, and other academic and support programs together to increase the pipeline of opportunity and augment the supply of nurses and nursing support in the Appalachian Highlands.
The Center will develop partnerships with other colleges and universities to advance the clinical practice of nursing, enhance interprofessional collaboration, contribute to knowledge about nursing workflow, and generate nursing scholarship and innovation.
Even prior to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the nation faced a shortage of nurses, with more than 1 million nurses expected to retire before 2030, according to a study published in Medical Care. Combining this with the historically high acuity of hospitalized patients creates a high-stress situation for practicing nurses, leading to burnout and higher turnover rates.
“As the largest nursing program in the state of Tennessee and as an institution whose mission is to improve the lives of the people of our region, we are excited about the opportunity Ballad Health has created to increase this vital pipeline of nurses, while also seeking to provide support and ongoing enhancement of our existing workforce,” said ETSU President Dr. Brian Noland. “ETSU is poised to continue to meet the challenge of the nursing shortage through the Center for Nursing Advancement, which will be rooted in our strong service, teaching, and research missions.”
The Appalachian Highlands Center for Nursing Advancement will focus on data and research, collaboration with key stakeholders across the region, and advocacy to promote the nursing profession.
“Our nurses and their direct support teams, such as certified nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses, and the other allied health professionals who care directly for patients, are the heart of the health care team,” said Ballad Health Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alan Levine. “The dynamics of the nursing profession have changed so much, becoming even more complex because of the challenges of the pandemic. We now seek to learn from our nurses what we need to do to evolve to better support the needs of our nursing teams and enhance their resilience in a very difficult environment. Partnerships with these regional institutions of higher education within the Appalachian Highlands are just the beginning of this collaborative effort to invest in health care workforce development.” Not only will the Center work with current nurses and nursing students, but it also will seek to attract more students to the nursing profession. The Center will partner with other institutions to develop a common pipeline for high school students to identify those with aptitudes for the sciences and help match them with employment and pathways to certification as a nursing support professional or for a nursing degree. These programs could match students with jobs within Ballad Health while they are in high school, which provides a path to certification by their high school graduations, linking them with the possibility of scholarships for nursing degrees, as well as employment opportunities within Ballad Health.
“Inspiring and educating the next generation of nurses and nurse educators is perhaps more important now than it has ever been,” said Dr. Leann Horsley, Dean of ETSU’s College of Nursing. “The Appalachian Highlands Center for Nursing Advancement will be critical to laying the groundwork for tomorrow’s nursing workforce in our region and ensuring that not only do we overcome the challenges of the pandemic, but that we also are proactive in creating a resilient and wellprepared workforce that can meet the future needs of our region as it grows.”
The announcement of the creation of the Center has drawn support from throughout the Appalachian Highlands and in Nashville.
“The nation is facing a labor shortage with profound impacts on health care,” said Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. “Ballad Health is investing into East Tennessee State University to develop the Appalachian Highlands Center for Nursing Advancement, which will not only serve the needs of the Appalachian Highlands region, but the entire state. My administration looks forward to working with Ballad Health and ETSU as they build solutions to the national nursing shortage.”
