RNEP Expansion: Growing the Rural Nursing Workforce
Interested in partnering with RNEP? RNEP is accepting applications for new partners:
✚ Apply as an Academic Partner. Application Deadline: March, 9, 2026.
✚ Apply as a Community Partner. Application Deadline: March 23, 2026.
The Rural Nursing Education Program was created to address Washington state’s critical rural nursing shortage by expanding access to nursing education in the state’s rural and underserved communities. In collaboration with the State Department of Health, academic institutions of higher education, rural health care facilities, hospitals, and community members, RNEP employs a “grow-your-own workforce” model that supports place-based nursing education and training for students to remain in their rural communities while earning their degree.
Students drive RNEP. Fully engaged in learning through a remote nursing program, RNEP students develop into competent nurses ready to serve their rural communities. With wraparound support, financial assistance, and strong local partnerships, students can earn their nursing degree without leaving the place they call home.
Community partners play a vital role in RNEP. They actively support the education of nursing students by nominating and precepting students and work closely with RNEP to coordinate community resources. Community partners help build a strong rural health care workforce for today and tomorrow.
Academic partners provide the educational foundation for RNEP. They deliver high-quality nursing education through innovative, remote learning models, expanding access for rural students and allowing them to remain in their communities. Academic partners' instruction and expertise equip students to succeed in nursing while helping build a skilled and resilient rural health care workforce.
The Rural Nursing Education Program is dedicated to building a strong, diverse rural nursing workforce across Washington. By making high-quality nursing education available to rural communities, RNEP empowers students to live, work, and remain in their hometowns. Through innovative, sustainable “grow-your-own” models and transformative clinical partnerships, RNEP fosters community-based collaboration between academic institutions, health care facilities, and communities-strengthening rural health care now and for the future.
Interested in learning more about the Rural Nursing Education Program?
Contact us at RNEP@doh.wa.gov
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