[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 176 (Wednesday, September 10, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52664-52665]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-20907]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Indian Health Service


Statutorily Mandated Single Source Award; Quentin N. Burdick 
American Indians Into Nursing Program

AGENCY: Indian Health Service, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of intent to fund a statutorily mandated single source 
grant award to the University of North Dakota, Quentin N. Burdick 
American Indians into Nursing Program, also known as the Recruit 
American Indians Into Nursing (RAIN) Program.

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    Project Period: August 1, 2008-July 31, 2013.
    Amount of Award: $350,000.
    Authority: This program is authorized under 25 U.S.C. 1616e(e) as 
amended, and requires the IETS to provide one grant to establish and 
maintain a program at the University of North Dakota (UND) to be known 
as the ``Quentin N. Burdick American Indians into Nursing Program.''
    Single Source Justification: The single source award is statutorily 
mandated under 25 U.S.C. 1616e(e), as amended and shall to the maximum 
extent feasible, coordinate with the Quentin N. Burdick Indians Into 
Psychology Program.
    Description of the Project: While Indian health programs have need 
for advance practice nurses who are nurse midwives and nurse 
practitioners, its greatest need in the field of advance practice 
nursing is nurse anesthesia. Additional high-need areas are nurse 
administrators trained at the graduate level and clinical nurses at the 
bachelor's level. Therefore, UND will maintain or incorporate the 
following:
    A. Provide a preference to Indians,
    B. Train nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, 
nurse administrators and Bachelor's of Science in Nursing (BSN) nurses,
    C. Teach curriculum in an interdisciplinary manner with other

[[Page 52665]]

health professionals such as pharmacy, medicine, or behavioral health 
students,
    D. Integrate and emphasize an Evidence Based Practice (EBP) 
curriculum,
    E. Have student clinical rotations established with Indian health 
programs,
    F. Provide access to the nursing curriculum using distance 
learning,
    G. Have formal bridge program agreements between Tribal colleges or 
universities to accommodate License Practical Nurse (LPN) to Associate 
Degree in Nursing (ADN)/BSN or BSN to Master's of Science in Nursing 
(MSN)/ Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP) students,
    H. Have a faculty exchange program between a Tribal college and UND 
School of Nursing to enhance cultural relevance, competency, and 
faculty strength,
    I. Have an emphasis on transcultural nursing and cultural 
competency, and
    J. Have a rural health focus.
    Continuation awards are subject to the availability of funds and 
satisfactory performance.
    To obtain application instructions please click on the following 
link and go to the funding opportunities: http://www.ihs.gov/NonMedicalPrograms/gogp/index.cfm?rnodule=gogp_funding.

Criteria

A. Methodology (40 Points)

    Applicants must train nurses at the graduate level in nurse 
anesthesia, nurse midwifery, nurse practitioners, nursing healthcare 
administration, or undergraduate level at the BSN degree level and 
should provide this training in an interdisciplinary manner. The 
applicant's curriculum should be available via a distance learning 
model and emphasize and integrate EBP, transcultural nursing, and 
include a rural health focus. Applicants must define how they will 
locate and recruit American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students 
and provide support services to AI/AN students who are recruited to 
facilitate their success in the nursing program and to track their 
progress. Applicants must define how they will assist the graduate 
nurse with job placement and track their payback status to ensure that 
the obligees comply with the terms of their service obligation. 
Applicants should have a mechanism in place to provide their students 
with clinical rotations in AI/AN health programs, have a bridge program 
agreement between Tribal colleges or universities so as to accommodate 
LPN to ADN/BSN or BSN to MSN/DNP and have a faculty exchange program 
with a Tribal college or university and a university school of nursing.

B. Capacity (20 Points)

    Applicants must provide verification of accreditation and show that 
they are capable of conducting the project from a technical and 
business standpoint by providing the qualifications and credentials of 
key personnel and a sound fiscal plan using the grant funds. Applicants 
for the Graduate or Bachelor's level grants must submit verifying 
documentation of National League of Nursing Accreditation Commission or 
American Association of Colleges of Nursing Commission on Collegiate 
Nursing Education accreditation. All programs must submit verifying 
documentation of State approval.

C. Need (15 Points)

    Applicants must justify the need for their project and provide a 
plan for the methodology they will use for recruiting AI/AN students 
nationwide as well as how they will actively assist nursing graduates 
with job placement. Applicants must recruit and train AI/AN individuals 
to be nurses at the graduate and undergraduate level and provide 
scholarships to those AI/AN individuals enrolled in the school of 
nursing to pay tuition, books, fees, and stipends for living expenses; 
provide a program that encourages AI/AN nurses at the graduate and 
undergraduate level to provide or continue to provide, health care 
services in AI/AN health care programs; and provide a program that 
increases the skills of, and provides continuing education, to AI/AN 
nurses at the graduate and undergraduate level.

D. Evaluation (15 Points)

    Applicants must present a plan for evaluating their success in 
carrying out the project and on an annual basis conduct a quantitative 
and qualitative evaluation of their year's activities, identifying what 
areas of the project need to be improved and how they will make those 
improvements. Applicants must identify how they will meet on an annual 
basis with the other project directors and staff under this grant 
program to share successes and challenges and to receive Federal grant 
training.

E. Prior Experience (10 Points)

    The UND must identify their experience with other similar projects, 
including the results of those projects and provide evidence of their 
past or potential cooperation and experience with AI/AN communities and 
Tribes and how UND Works with the Center for Gifted and Talented Indian 
Students established under section 5324(a) of the Indian Education Act 
of 1988.
    Agency Contacts(s):

For program-related information, contact Ms. Sandra L. Haldane, BSN, 
RN, MS, Director, Division of Nursing Services, Office of Clinical and 
Prevention Services, Indian Health Service, 801 Thompson Avenue, Reyes 
Building, Suite 300, Rockville, MD 20852, (301) 443-1840.
For grants-related information, contact Ms. Norma Jean Dunne, Grants 
Management Specialist, Division of Grants Operations, Indian Health 
Service, 801 Thompson Avenue, TMP 360, Rockville, MD 20852, (301) 443-
5204. (The telephone numbers are not toll-free numbers).

    Dated: September 2, 2008.
Robert G. McSwain,
Director, Indian Health Service.
 [FR Doc. E8-20907 Filed 9-9-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-16-M