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PORTLAND, Maine

UNE's Nursing Department receives $1.25 million HRSA grant to train nurses serving Portland's immigrants and refugees

University of New England's Associate Professor and Director of Cross Cultural Health Initiatives Jennifer Morton, D.N.P., M.S., M.P.H., RN, and the Department of Nursing were awarded $1.25 million from the Health Services Resource Administration (HRSA) to develop and deliver a training model in team-based interprofessional care and cultural competence to nurses serving immigrant and refugee populations in Portland, Maine.

Participating Nurse Leaders in the program; "Calling Forward Nurse Leaders and Interprofessional Teams to Advance the Health of Immigrant and Refugee Communities," will receive clinical interprofessional and cultural competence training through the University of New England and provide direct and related services in a satellite community-based clinic at Riverton Park as part of Portland Community Health Center, an existing Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC).

This project will expand existing community partnerships between the University of New England and the Maine Center for Disease Control (CDC), Portland's Public Health Division, Portland Housing Authority, Portland Community Health Center, and the local urban community.

UNE's President Danielle Ripich, Ph.D., noted:  "With the support of this significant HRSA award, UNE can advance its commitment to interprofessional education and training to improve public health in urban and rural areas throughout Maine, and across the globe."

It is expected that this three year award will result in the training of over 50 nurse leaders and community health workers and will educate and train hundreds of interprofessional health professions students, while providing innovative and expanded service provisions to the immigrant and refugee communities of Portland.

Morton, the principal investigator on the project, said: "The award merges education and training activities among the university, clinical and public health, and community stakeholders.  The immigrant and refugee community has been integral to the planning from the inception of the idea."

The University of New England (UNE) is an innovative health sciences university grounded in the liberal arts, with two distinctive coastal Maine campuses and unique study abroad opportunities. UNE has internationally recognized scholars in the sciences, health, medicine and humanities; offers more than 40 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs; and is home to Maine's only medical school. It is one of a handful of private universities with a comprehensive health education mission including medicine, pharmacy, dental medicine, nursing and an array of allied health professions. UNE's interprofessional education initiatives educate health professionals to engage in comprehensive and collaborative team-based care. Both graduate and undergraduate students work closely with faculty on research and scholarship
 

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.