ABSTRACT Project Title: Nursing: Providing Access to Community-based Healthcare (N- PATH) Organization: Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing (MNSON) Address: 2160 1st Avenue, Maywood, Illinois, 60513 Project Director: P.Ann Solari-Twadell, PhD, RN, MPA,FAAN Phone: (773) 508- 3249 Email: Psolari@luc.edu Project Period: 7/1/2018 through 6/30/2022 Founded in 1935 as the first baccalaureate nursing program in Illinois, Loyola University Chicago, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing (MNSON) has prepared over 8,500 BSN nurses to assume leadership in community/ population health and in the profession We propose to continue our track record of excellence in population health through the “Nursing – Providing Access To Healthcare (N-PATH)” project The N-PATH project will expand undergraduate nurses’ primary health/ambulatory care content hours, clinical experiences and access to clinical sites with a focus on primary care, community-based chronic disease prevention and treatment for underserved populations Expected outcomes are an increase in the number of baccalaureate prepared nurses electing to practice within interdisciplinary teams in community-based primary care health settings and insuring that RN’s working in community-based primary care settings are functioning at the full scope of their license We will enhance the primary /ambulatory care education of baccalaureate nursing students based on the following N-PATH objectives: Objective 1: Create a Primary Care Community Nurse Scholar (PCCNS) program beginning in the student’s first year of nursing education and lasting throughout their BSN education which focuses on evidence-based knowledge, skills and attitudes and integrating care coordination particularly for the underserved population in the community primary care setting The PCCNS program will be open to four year nursing students, accelerated nursing students and RN completion students Objective 2.) Enhance and expand clinical partnerships with nurses in primary care/ambulatory settings who provide care for diverse underserved populations including Hines Veteran Administration Hospital System (HVA), Loyola University Medical Center/Trinity Healthcare primary care sites (LUC), Proviso East Schoolbased Health Center (SBHC), Loyola University Chicago Community Nursing Center (CNC) and area Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) by delivering continued professional development for practicing RN’s Objective 3: Create and pilot-test a primary care, module-based educational program for baccalaureate nursing education that can be replicated by other schools of nursing interested in expanding their educational programming to address primary care and community-based chronic disease prevention and care-coordination, including integration of behavioral health and substance abuse prevention and treatment into primary care Modules developed for the N-PATH project will address current population health issues emphasizing skill building in evidenced–based interventions in order that registered nurses are prepared to work at the full extent of their licensure In addition, strategies will be used to encourage graduates to select primary/ambulatory care nursing as a specialty We will use the four paths (Pre-professional, Preceptor, Patient, and Population) of Loyola’s current PATH Model to organize the project activities The Pre-professional Path (i.e student) will include a curriculum with online, hybrid and simulated content, reflective journaling, small group and face-to-face classroom/workshop education, and experiences in underserved sites for our selected PCCNS The Preceptor Path will provide special training for clinical preceptors and staff in community/primary care settings to insure that registered nurses have the knowledge, skills, attitudes and institutional support to practice at the full scope of their license working with diverse populations The Patient Path will focus on assessing patient needs and the development of educationally and culturally appropriate interventions to empower patients to assume more control of their own health status The Population Path will incorporate a theory and practice in a Culturally Informed Community Health Assessment with proposed recommendations A statutory Funding Preference is requested on the basis of projects that substantially benefit underserved populations