Introduction by Vice Chancellor Steve Goldstein
At UC Irvine, our commitment to health equity drives us to develop innovative solutions that provide high-quality healthcare for all people while nurturing the next generation of compassionate and skilled healthcare professionals. In this installment of Bridging the Gap, I would like to introduce you to Nurse-OC, a groundbreaking program that exemplifies this commitment.
Nurse-OC is a uniquely immersive initiative dedicated to nursing education that addresses the specific needs of communities throughout Orange County. California faces a dire shortage of healthcare workers in direct-care positions, significantly impacting public health and healthcare service delivery. By 2037, the state is projected to have an 18% shortage of nurses, equivalent to 65,000 full-time registered nurses. Nurse-OC directly tackles health equity challenges by focusing on recruiting and training nurses from all backgrounds, ensuring that our future nursing workforce will understand the communities they serve.
This initiative not only addresses the critical nursing shortage in our region; it creates a pipeline of culturally adept healthcare providers who can navigate the complex social determinants of health. Through Nurse-OC, we are investing in a future where every member of our community has access to high-quality, culturally-sensitive healthcare.
Nurse-OC: Cultivating Equity Through Healthcare Education
Featuring:
Kimberly Kelley, BSN, RN
Program manager, Nurse-OC, Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing
Mark Lazenby, PhD, RN, FAAN
Dean, Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing
Susanne Phillips, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN
Senior associate dean, Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing
Trang Truong
Nursing student, Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing; extern, Nurse-OC
Nurse-OC is an innovative program at UC Irvine’s Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing that prepares future nurses and nurse practitioners to care for Orange County’s most vulnerable populations. This initiative was made possible by a transformative $5 million grant from CalOptima Health, as part of their Provider Workforce Development Initiative. The program launched in 2024 to provide high-quality medical and behavioral healthcare for Orange County residents.
At its core, Nurse-OC addresses the urgent need for a skilled nursing workforce while fostering professional growth. Kimberly Kelley, RN, program manager of Nurse-OC, emphasizes the program’s primary goals: “We aim to create a robust pipeline of nurses to help address the nursing shortage in Orange County and improve the hiring and retention of new nurses in the region.” The program focuses on final-year pre-licensure nursing students, Family Nurse Practitioners and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners, preparing them to deliver whole-person care through improved health services and by supporting underserved communities.
Nurse-OC takes a multifaceted approach to achieving its objectives:
Nurse-OC focuses on developing higher-level skills including advanced communication, care coordination, interdisciplinary collaboration and the confidence to navigate the hospital culture. While the program is currently nursing-specific, its impact on health equity in Orange County is expected to be significant. By investing in skilled community-oriented nursing professionals, we are not just filling jobs – we are cultivating a workforce that understands and is committed to the communities they serve.
For Family Nurse Practitioners and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners, the program offers an additional year of mentorship and training in community medicine and caring for underserved populations. Susanne Phillips, DNP, emphasizes the importance of this extended support: “Studies show that nurse practitioners in those settings typically burn out within a year since they have not been adequately trained for the elements beyond patient care. We provide an extra year of mentorship and insight into how the system works, offering extra support during their first year in practice.”
To ensure the program’s effectiveness and impact, Nurse-OC will measure success through various metrics, including:
- Recruitment to the externship program
- Hiring rates of program graduates
- Retention rates, particularly whether participants fulfill their two-year commitment
- Reduction in student debt burden
- Completion rates of the more intensive Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner fellowships
Mark Lazenby, PhD, RN, dean of the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, envisions the long-term impact of Nurse-OC on health equity in Orange County: “If you have more nurses who are more in tune to care coordination for unmet social determinants of health, it will have a direct impact in increasing high-quality healthcare access for everyone.”
Trang Truong, a master’s level nursing student in the Nurse-OC program, offers valuable insight into the program’s impact on aspiring nurses. As a CalOptima patient herself, Trang’s personal experiences have fueled her passion for providing high-quality healthcare for all. “Nurse-OC is about meeting patients at their most vulnerable and advocating for them,” Trang explains. “It is about working with populations who often face barriers to healthcare access and resources.”
The program’s unique structure, which includes an additional 400 hours of training beyond typical nursing education, has been particularly beneficial for Trang. “These extra hours allow us to develop soft skills that are often overlooked in traditional programs. The soft skills I have gained, the confidence to ask questions, and the ability to prioritize safe patient practice over anything else – these will be invaluable in my career,” she reflects.
Trang’s experience exemplifies how Nurse-OC is not just training nurses, but cultivating compassionate, culturally competent healthcare providers who are committed to serving their communities and addressing health disparities.
Nurse-OC is about meeting patients at their most vulnerable and advocating for them. It is about working with populations who often face barriers to healthcare access and resources.”
Trang Truong
To further support nursing students in the region, Nurse-OC is organizing a career fair on April 4, 2025. Open to all nursing students and nursing schools in the area, the fair will feature local hospitals that hire new graduates, National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) prep courses, campus partners, and UCI Medical Center nurse managers and unit leaders.
As we continue to bridge the gap in healthcare equity, programs like Nurse-OC light the way forward, showing us that with vision, commitment and collaboration, we can create a healthcare system that truly serves all members of our community.
