Grant expands SDSU Imperial Valley’s nursing program, student success grows

A state program that seeks to expand access to quality primary care education and training for students and residents in medically underserved areas has awarded a two-year, $150,000 grant to the rapidly growing School of Nursing at SDSU Imperial Valley.

“In a region with limited specialty care, this helps us grow our own and provide access where there may not be enough support,” said Stephen Jaime, an SDSU Imperial Valley nursing professor.

Since 2023, the school has received a total of $720,000 from the Song-Brown Healthcare Workforce Training Program, part of the California Department of Health Care Access and Information.

In previous years, the grants helped to purchase essential supplies for nursing classes, such as a patient manikin and other simulation tools and starter kits for clinical assessment. The funding has also supported staff roles, including the hiring of academic tutors and mentors, which are essential in students’ professional and academic development. 

"We saw the need to hire more staff to support our students and admit more cohorts. This grant made that possible," said Erika Rodriguez, assistant director in the undergraduate program. “It also ensures the continuation of an advising position for the next two years and funds necessary equipment purchases.”

Now in her final semester, nursing student Stephenie Ruiz attributes her clinical skills to the hands-on simulation experiences and academic support she received over the past two years.

“The simulation tools we used presented us with real life scenarios that we now see in the hospitals when we do our clinical trials,” said Ruiz. “In the classroom, our professors provided us with the equipment and guided us through the process. I always felt like it was a safe space to make mistakes, ask questions, and connect with my classmates so that when it was our turn to take care of a patient, we had the necessary tools to succeed.”

For Ruiz, the mentorship she gained from her professors motivated her to pursue her nursing career in the intensive care unit (ICU) department after graduation. 

This new grant builds on other recent funding, including one that, combined with the donation gift from Carolyn and Cliff Colwell, is making new instructional space possible.

The School of Nursing is based at SDSU Imperial Valley, Brawley. In Spring 2025, the program graduated 56 nursing students. In 2024, the first bachelor’s of science in nursing achieved 100% pass rate in their licensure exam. An additional 20 graduates are preparing to take the exam soon. 

Many students have taken advantage of mentorship, internship opportunities, and new course offerings that allow them to specialize and seek employment locally, in El Centro, Brawley, and Palm Springs. 

“This is a very unique community,” said Karen Macauley, SDSU School of Nursing director. “When students are supported by mentors and staff, they succeed. We’re seeing 100% Registered Nurse National Licensure (NCLEX) pass rates and these grants support this success. Our goal is to grow, mentor and retain our own Imperial Valley nursing workforce. If we didn’t train and retain our own, it simply wouldn’t exist.”