The Rhode Island Action Coalition for the Future of Nursing, along with numerous public and private sector partners, today launched a more than $600,000 statewide clinical nurse residency and mentoring program to provide participating nurses with additional skills and experience. Unemployed and underemployed nurses and new graduates from the state’s nursing programs will be eligible to enroll in the groundbreaking program.

The awarding of $3.8 million in grants to the University of Rhode Island’s College of nursing is a signal from the federal government that the college is leading the way in nursing education and innovation, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed said Thursday morning. Reed joined URI administrators and nursing students, as well as representatives from Brown University for a press conference on the Kingston Campus to announce the grant awards.