Partners Investing in Nursing's Future (PIN)
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Northwest Health Foundation

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Northwest Health Foundation (NWHF) created a program called "Partners Investing in Nursing's Future" to address long-term shortages of nurses in the US and to develop strategies for creating and sustaining a viable nursing workforce.   

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As a first-round awardee, the NCHCI developed a novel program to provide soft skills training to nursing students entering their final year of nursing training from throughout the colleges and universities in Montana.   The 10-week program ran for three summers at Montana Tech with 45 students participating in the program.    Over the 10-weeks, student received a wide range of soft skills training including leadership training, communication skills, time management skills, nutrition courses including how to prepare quick, healthy meals, use of humor, and many more survival skills.   Students also participated in hiking, floating, and other outdoor adventures where they needed to utilize their teamwork skills.   

 

Following the program, the NCHCI tracked the nurses into their first several years of their nursing careers. Data collected from the study indicated that the nursing students who completed the Soft Skills Training had substantially higher retention rates than their nursing counterparts who did not complete the same training.  

 

The program was a huge success, but funding from RWFJ was not provided for next-phase activities.   

 

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