GROW Nurses
GROW Nurses (Growing and Raising Our Workforce) commits to recruiting and growing nurses, nursing faculty and supporting healthcare careers among under-represented populations (men, African American, Hispanic, and First-Generation College Bound). Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) sponsors GROW Nurses.
GROW Nurses was developed based on the identified need to prepare Grant County students for the academic, emotional, and social aspects of nursing education. Students need a realistic view of nursing education and practice, ensuring that individuals preparing for a career in nursing have a call to service and to a caring nature toward patients/ clients. They must be supported and empowered to persist in healthcare careers.
“According to the Commission for Higher Education, only about 15% of 21st Century Scholars earn a two or four-year degree on time with a graduation rate slightly above that of all low-income Hoosier students at 9%. That is below the state’s full-time college population overall at 23%” (Fellows 2014). These recent statistics are sobering to GROW Nurses and our partners. The partnership among GROW Nurses, Marion Regional Career Center, Ivy Tech Community College (Ivy Tech), and IWU has fostered enduring connections in the collective mission to increase undergraduate retention in Grant County.
GROW Nurses focuses programming primarily on the Health Careers Class students from high schools throughout Grant County, largely from under-represented populations. These students are interested in different healthcare specialties, but primarily nursing, as the senior students have the opportunity to prepare for the Indiana examination for Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). Additionally, GROW Nurses works with the Transition to RN program at Ivy Tech Community College, which enrolls 20 LPNs seeking their ASN to prepare them to become Registered Nurses. GROW Nurses will continue to offer value added programming, as funds allow, such as
- C.N.A. Exam Fees for Senior Health Career students
- Basic Tuberculosis (TB) Training for Ivy Tech nursing students
- Transportation fees for students to take Simulation Lab tours at both IWU and Ivy Tech
- Site Visits to the Marion VA and Marion General Hospitals, Vernon Manor, and Rolling Meadows for tours and information about employment opportunities
- Providing IWU Junior and Senior to tutor students in Health Careers Classes in Grant County schools.
GROW Nurses initiative began October 2008, at IWU, a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Initially funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, GROW Nurses continues to thrive on various grants and gifts. Currently, Indiana Wesleyan provides "in-kind" support for a part-time Director and Support Specialist. Additional labor hours are provided by IWU senior nursing students earning academic credit in a leadership practicum course for their contributions to GROW Nurses.