For complete information on this RFP, please visit Comm-PASS.com, the Commonwealth’s Procurement Access & Solicitation System (www.Comm-PASS.com) and then follow these steps:

1. At the bottom of the page, click on Search for Solicitations;
2. In the box for Keywords, type Nursing Education Redesign;
3. Click on the results;
4. Choose the current RFP and click on the eyeglasses icon which takes you to the Summary Page;
5. Select the Specifications tab to reach the details of the RFP. Click on the eyeglasses icon to open the Word document; other tabs contain further information pertaining to the RFP. (For example, select the record's "Other Information" tab, then click the "Browse Amendment History" link to access all previous versions of this record, if any.)

Amended deadline for submission: Friday, May 11, 2012 by 4:00 p.m.

NEW: Information Sessions scheduled (see RFP for details): Tuesday, April 10th from 1:00-2:30 p.m. and Wednesday, April 11th from 3:00-4:30 p.m.

PURPOSE / SCOPE

This cycle of the Nursing and Allied Health Initiative grant program will focus on education redesign projects in several priority areas reflecting the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine’s 2010 report, Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. With lifelong learning as a recurring theme the topics to be addressed include; advancing the education level of incumbent nurses from the ADN to BSN level or higher, educating more nurses with advanced degrees to fill faculty positions and for advanced clinical practice, and a residency model for newly licensed nurses including unemployed new graduates, especially in a home care/long term care setting.

Proposals may offer new innovations that address the priorities listed above or may continue and extend prior work related to these topics that will facilitate moving a project through an implementation phase or to reach a meaningful level of scale. In either case, the proposals must be replicable, sustainable and of value for later regional or statewide use.

Proposals must address at least one of the following priorities:

1. Education redesign that supports and encourages nurses in our incumbent workforce to advance their education from ADN to complete a BSN or higher. To achieve the target of 80% of nurses educated to the BSN or higher degree by 2020, many of our current practicing nurses will need pathways that are appropriate and responsive to the needs of adult, working professionals, many of whom have earned their Associate Degree or other certification some time ago. Also we will need to continue to provide and support ADN to BSN pathways for new nursing students.
2. Increasing the numbers of nurses with advanced degrees in nursing (masters or higher) to fill positions as education faculty or in advanced clinical practice. Faculty and advanced clinical practice nurses are anticipated to be in high demand in future years to replace retiring faculty as well as to expand the capacity of programs to educate new nurses to the BSN and MSN level. In the practice setting, advanced practice nurses will be in increasing demand to provide mentoring and direct patient care in partnership with physicians.
3. Residency models for newly licensed nurses, including unemployed new graduates, to support their transition into full practice. While residency models will be beneficial for all new nurses, projects that focus on home care and/or long term care settings are encouraged.