About Us
NEXus - The Nursing Education Xchange
NEXus began as a partnership among select Western universities offering doctoral programs in Nursing (PhD and DNP) to provide opportunities for students at one academic collaborating institution to take a course or a series of related courses in a cluster, from another academic collaborating institution. NEXus was initiated with funding from FIPSE and is currently funded by HRSA and is administered by the Western Institute of Nursing, a regional nursing organization.
The NEXus Course Exchange
Through NEXus, participating institutions have identified courses that are available at a distance and open for enrollment by participating PhD or DNP students. Each institution identifies the courses and seats available, often filling unfilled seats. Courses have been clustered by interest and topic area to assist students and their advisors in selecting the best courses that can serve as an elective in the student’s degree program or possibly substitute for a required course for an off-time student. Many courses are open to both participating PhD and DNP students, further enriching the doctoral education experience.
NEXus Goal and HRSA Grant Objectives
The overall goal of NEXus is to address the nursing shortage by educating well-prepared nurse educators through application of distance accessible delivery methods, enabling rural nurses to remain in their home communities and be employed in rural nursing education programs. Grant objectives are to: 1) serve more students by scaling the NEXus infrastructure and inviting new partners; 2) add courses and clusters in new and emerging or needed areas of Nursing PhD practice; 3) add Doctor of Nurse Practice (DNP) institutions; and 4) scale NursingPhD.org to become a more complete tool in recruiting nursing PhD students.
Funding
Currently funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (D09HP09070); Developed through a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), US Department of Education, (P116B040822).