Kingsborough Awarded $300K Grant To Address Shortage Of Nurses

Kingsborough Awarded $300K Grant To Address Shortage Of Nurses

Kingsborough Awarded $300K Grant To Address Shortage Of Nurses

Kingsborough Awarded $300K Grant To Address Shortage Of Nurses

 Kingsborough Community College (KCC) is one of 10 colleges from the Achieving the Dream (ATD) Network that will receive a grant of $300,000 as part of ATD’s Accelerating and Diversifying Nursing Pathways at Community Colleges initiative. Made possible by support from the Brave of Heart Fund, the initiative is designed to address both the shortage of nurses, especially nurses who identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC) and first-generation students, and to create stronger pathways to employment in the nursing field.
KCC has accredited degree programs in nursing and surgical technology. Students enrolled in those programs participate in clinical and field site experiences in almost every health care agency in Brooklyn.  “The College has been turning away qualified applicants every semester due to lack of space at clinical sites, a situation that worsened during the pandemic, when most agencies accepted fewer students. Those numbers still have not recovered,” noted Nursing Chair Catherine Olubummo. “The ATD grant will be used to combat the largest barrier impacting our nursing program enrollment – lack of hands-on clinical capacity – by purchasing high-quality simulations as permanent replacements for specific clinical experiences. In addition, we will be able to provide additional support to students in their first year, to increase their successful completion.”

Historically, Kingsborough Community College has been deeply invested in working with its community to address the shortage of health care workers, the health care disparities, and the low socioeconomic mobility of large segments of the population. In addition to nursing and surgical technology, KCC has accredited degree programs in chemical dependency counseling, community health, exercise science, mental health and human services, paramedic sciences, physical therapist assistant, and polysomnographic technology.

In 2020, KCC and Medgar Evers College, and Brooklyn College, two CUNY baccalaureate institutions, were awarded over $9M in capital funds for college renovations to develop the Brooklyn Healthcare Hub, coordinating with hospitals and medical facilities. The joint effort between the three campuses aims to expand the health care workforce in Central and South Brooklyn; build an innovative health care high school-to-career pipeline; and match well-prepared career entrants with health care employment opportunities. In 2016, KCC developed a micro-credential in health coaching in collaboration with the New York Alliance for Careers in Healthcare, Community Care of Brooklyn, and Maimonides Medical Center. This micro-credential will soon be receiving national accreditation (pending program approval by the National Board of Health and Wellness Coaching). Through an established collaboration with Kingsborough’s Continuing Education department, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers, and Community Care of Brooklyn, KCC continues to offer health coaching as a stand-alone micro-credential to current workers and has embedded it into two new associate of science degree programs: health sciences and a coordinated care concentration in community health. In addition, KCC’s Healthcare Institute offers certificates in more than ten entry-level health care occupations.

Information about KCC’s degree and non-degree programs can be found at www.kbcc.cuny.edu.

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