Margaret Emerson, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC, and Therese Mathews, PhD, APRN-NP, BCBA-D, both Omaha Division, recently learned their projects were selected for funding by the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN) American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) Award Program. Each project was awarded approximately $499,000.
The reviewers were pleased with Dr. Mathews’ emphasis on bolstering the rural behavioral health workforce and emphasized the importance of supporting and expanding a well-defined, existing program.
With Dr. Emerson’s work, the review committee praised the inclusion of trainee stipends, educational materials as needed and promotional materials. They also appreciated the broad approach to training various behavioral health trainees and students and the inclusion of behavioral health providers in their data collection and reporting efforts.
Dr. Mathew’s project, “Increasing Primary Care Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners in Rural Nebraska and Supporting Undergraduate Psychiatric Faculty,” will increase the number of dually certified primary care and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners in the rural areas of the state with the goal of increasing access to psychiatric care for patients in integrated primary care settings. The grant also will support increasing the number of students in the undergraduate nursing program at the UNMC College of Nursing who receive clinical training in psychiatric mental health care.
Dr. Emerson’s project, “Development of an Immersive Interprofessional Integrated Care Training Hub,” will enable the expansion of psychiatric access for students in need, along with offering interprofessional opportunities to train and gain exposure to integrated care within the University of Nebraska Kearney Student Health Center. This interprofessional training hub will be open to current and post-graduate students, as well as family nurse practitioners, psychiatric advanced practice providers (APRNs and PAs), primary care providers, internal medicine and psychiatric medical residents and behavioral health providers.
Both projects will provide training opportunities that facilitate workforce development statewide in all the essential integrated roles while improving access to mental health care for Nebraska residents through the implementation and delivery of integrated care.