The Central California Center for Excellence in Nursing at Fresno State will lead a regional effort to strengthen nursing education across the San Joaquin Valley with support from a $186,300 grant awarded to the Fresno State Foundation to develop nursing faculty, improve clinical training and expand collaboration among nursing programs and healthcare partners.
Awarded by the Foundation for California Community Colleges’ Nursing Education Investment Grant Program, Fresno State was one of two recipients this year, along with San Bernardino Valley College.
The project will focus on three areas:
- Strengthening regional collaboration and leadership among academic and clinical partners.
- Improving clinical placement coordination by using regional data to support coordinated planning, greater transparency and informed decision-making.
- Developing nursing educators and clinical preceptors through a hybrid faculty development program focused on learner-centered supervision, coaching, feedback and equitable evaluation practices.
“For the Central California Center for Excellence in Nursing, this award reinforces our mission of advancing nursing education through regional collaboration,” said Dr. Marie Gilbert, director of the Central California Center for Excellence in Nursing and principal investigator for the grant. “Ultimately, the greatest impact of this award extends beyond any single institution. By investing in educators, clinical partners and shared regional infrastructure, the Foundation for California Community Colleges is helping strengthen the preparation of practice-ready nurses who will care for the communities within the Central San Joaquin Valley.”
Since 2006, the Central California Center for Excellence in Nursing, housed within the College of Health and Human Services at Fresno State, has brought together nursing education and practice partners to address regional workforce challenges and improve the preparation of future nurses. Today, the center coordinates the Central San Joaquin Valley Clinical Education Collaborative, which includes 16 nursing programs and 10 clinical partners across the region.
“One of the things that makes this award unique is that it isn’t designed to support a single nursing program or institution,” Gilbert said. “Instead, it invests in regional infrastructure that brings together nursing programs and healthcare organizations to strengthen nursing education across the Central Valley.”
The Central California Center for Excellence in Nursing at Fresno State will use the funds to support five community colleges while also benefiting 11 additional nursing programs – including Fresno State’s – and 10 clinical partners, including:
- Fresno State
- Clovis Adult Education
- College of the Sequoias
- Fresno Adult School
- Fresno City College
- Fresno Pacific University
- Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts
- Lemoore College
- Madera Community College
- National University
- Porterville Community College
- Samuel Merritt University
- San Joaquin Valley College
- Tulare Adult School
- Unitek Learning
- Visalia Adult School
Clinical partners:
- Adventist Health Central Valley Network
- Clovis Community Medical Center
- Community Regional Medical Center
- Fresno Heart and Surgical Hospital
- Kaiser Permanente Fresno
- Kaweah Delta Health Care District
- Saint Agnes Medical Center
- Sierra View Medical Center
- Valley Children’s Healthcare
- VA Central California Healthcare System
