Recently, Michael Waxman, M.D., MBA, education professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at KU School of Medicine, conducted a resuscitation simulation with nursing and allied health staff at Rice Community Health in Lyons, KS as part of the Advancing Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) Grow and Stay grant.

The ANEW grant is designed to expand the nursing workforce needs of rural, urban, and/or tribal underserved populations in Kansas and focuses on the areas of mental health, maternal-child health and substance use disorders.

"Beyond my practice of pulmonary critical care medicine in the Kansas City area, I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching the skills from the most basic of medicine to the more advanced skills of critical care," Dr. Waxman noted. "As an Education Professor at KU Medical Center, I have been privileged to teach learners not only in Kansas City, but I have had the opportunity to drive to a number of places in the state and educate others."

The ANEW grant provides clinical training, professional development and preceptor support to academic-clinical partners like Rice Community Health annually. The goal is to improve retention, focus on employee/practice wellness and encourage service within the rural setting.

"Most recently, I was in Lyons, Kansas, working with a group of nurses to hone their skills in intraosseous needle insertion, airway including endotracheal intubation, code blue resuscitations, noninvasive positive pressure ventilation and a facilitated discussion of pneumonia, acute respiratory failure and asthma," said Dr. Waxman. "Hands-on skills training and team resuscitation simulation training were all part of the day of learning. What an experience for me to work with such competent practitioners to help sharpen their skills."

"Small rural hospital don't always have the opportunity to have 'high tech' training with simulation mannequins," said Chandra Michaelis, RN, trauma program manager/ emergency preparedness at Rice Community Hospital. "This was a fantastic resource that gave our nurses high quality education in a low stress environment."

This ANEW: Grow and Stay project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $2.58 million with 0 percentage financed with non-governmental sources. The ANEW: Grow and Stay project period runs from 07/01/2023 to 06/30/2027. The contents are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information visit HRSA.gov.