A continuing education program to retrain registered nurses for careers in client-focused community healthcare.

The purpose of the grant-funded program was to address educational needs arising from the changing role of registered nurses in the delivery of healthcare because of shifts occurring from acute hospital-based care to primary care community-based services. The grant contributed the financial resources necessary to provide administrative support, develop the curriculum and teach the content. Taught jointly by nurse educators and community-based practitioners, the program provided 99 hours of classroom/college laboratory instruction and 96 hours of community-based clinical experiences flexibly structured to meet the needs of working nurses. It provided training at two educational sites for over 40 registered nurses who were unemployed, working in acute care and looking to cross over to community-based settings, or already in a community setting yet interested in sharpening their skills. Nurses were able to earn college credit or continuing education units (CEUs) for successful completion of the program.