Shepherd University’s School of Nursing receives $2.6 million grant

The School of Nursing at Shepherd University is the recipient of a $2.6 million four-year rural health advanced practice grant which will be used to increase the number of psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners and primary care family nurse practitioners in West Virginia. The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration. The grant will dole out $649,998 a year for the next four years, and around $417,000 of that will be used to cover yearly fees and tuition for 30 graduate and certificate students.

In an article posted on Shepherd University’s website, the dean of Shepherd’s College of Nursing, Education, and Health Sciences and director of the School of Nursing Dr. Sharon Mailey was quoted on the grant, saying, “This grant will support nurse practitioners who are primary care providers in the region—and there is an inadequate number of providers at this point in time. We have many specialists, but we don’t have sufficient numbers of individuals at the primary care level who are facilitating access into the healthcare system for patients who have the most vulnerable needs.”

The grant money will start coming in during the Fall 2023 semester and will provide scholarships for students who are taking part in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program, as well as other programs that offer post graduate certifications for psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners and family nurse practitioners.

The associate professor of nursing education and grant project director Dr. Kelly Watson Huffer talked about the benefits these scholarships will have for students, saying, “Doctoral education is expensive and time intensive. In addition, our students are working, and have families and other responsibilities. Taking the financial stress away is just one more thing to help them with their education.”

Dr. Huffer sees the current shortage of psychiatrists as well as waitlists for mental health services as a sign that there is a great potential of growth in the psychiatric mental health area in West Virginia. 

“If you can be an FNP/PMHMP, it is ideal, because there is a backlog to refer your patients anywhere for mental health. There’s a six-month waitlist for most psychiatry and you have kids who need stimulant medication for ADHD and patients with depression and anxiety issues. If someone can serve in both roles in a primary care office, they are really facilitating getting their patients treated in a timely manner,” she said.

Shepherd University DNP and certificate students will be aided by the grant as they gain practical rural health experience at four federally qualified health centers: Mountaineer Community Health Center in Paw Paw, West Virginia, E.A. Hawse Health Center in Hardy County, West Virginia, Tri-State Community Health Center, serving Morgan County, West Virginia, Washington and Allegheny counties, Maryland, and Fulton County, Pennsylvania, and Shenandoah Valley Medical Systems in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Mountaineer Recovery Center in Kearneysville, West Virginia, and Jefferson Day Report Center, Inc. in Ranson, West Virginia, both mental health substance abuse disorder treatment centers, will also participate in the students’ education, as well.

Keyla Landsberger, who serves as project coordinator, talked about the benefit to the community that will come from the grant, saying, “Being able to support our students and West Virginia’s most vulnerable populations allows us to keep resources in our community.”

Dr. Mailey added: “It’s all about improving healthcare in our region. Shepherd is serving this region and this program is dedicated to doing that.”

More information about Shepherd University can be found at the school’s website.