---

Purpose and rationale: The core of the NEC project is recruitment of registered nurses in the MSN program for NNPs delivered on the campuses of The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), University of Delaware (UD), and Thomas Jefferson University (TJU). A second purpose is to recruit diverse, culturally competent and sensitive health professionals that will improve access to underserved populations in a tri-state area where infant mortality is high. Recruitment Efforts will be geared toward targeted recruitment of ethnically diverse graduate students from NJ, DE, and PA. Implementation: Methods of recruitment are: tri-state campus open houses, scheduled web-based chat open houses, articulation with interested community agencies at their staff orientations, college based recruitment in PA, DE, and NJ, direct targeted mailings to RN populations, email advertisements in interested community agencies, advertising in appropriate professional journals. Long term recruitment will be implemented by networking through community colleges, Kids in Health Care, maternal child health leaders, and collaboration with the campus Office of Minority Affairs. A tri-state advisory board will guide, implement and evaluate the recruitment plan concurrently and ongoing. The NEC marketing plan includes: designing brochures for three campuses, press releases to announce “new” NNP NEC program, power point seminars, open houses, employment site visits. A marketing budget was developed for photos, publications, advertisement, technological support hardware, multimedia design, and consultation on marketing plan. Evaluation: Recruitment will be evaluated by reviewing recruitment statistics, diversity enrollments, analysis of data at advisory board meetings, and effectiveness of recruitment and marketing strategies. Outcomes to be measured are meeting the needs of underserved populations through increased numbers of NEC NNP graduates who are certified, licensed and employed in the tri-state area. Additionally, longitudinal study data will be reviewed for employer satisfaction and skills in cultural competency.