Episode 10: Loan Repayment Options and Their Benefit for Nurses and Health Equity

A new $1.5 billion investment in health care is giving nurses the opportunity to improve equity in the communities they serve while also having their nursing school loans repaid. Announced by the Biden Administration at the end of 2021, the funding supports loan repayment and scholarship programs within the National Health Service Corps and Nurse Corps, which are part of the Health Resources and Services Administration. Applications are open now. Show guest CAPT Jacqueline Rodrigue, Acting Director of the Division of Health Careers and Financial Support for the Bureau of Health Workforce, discusses the importance of the funding, and Dr. Andrew Pettit, a Nurse Corps participant, shares how it’s changed his life to be part of a program that is helping him pay off his nursing school loan debt. CAPT Jacqueline Rodrigue has nearly 30 years of experience in workforce diversity, cultural competency, stakeholder engagement, quality improvement, and behavioral health. She provides strategic direction, coordination, and planning in support of Bureau of Health Workforce’s 40 programs that aim to recruit, educate, train, and retain a diverse health professions workforce in rural and underserved communities. Dr. Andrew Pettit, DNP, FNP-BC, is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner with combined 10 years of nursing-related experience in long-term memory care, oncology, and ambulatory care. He received his nursing degree in 2014 from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, UT, and his Doctorate of Nursing Practice in 2019 from the University of Washington in Seattle. He currently practices in primary care at a Federally Qualified Health Center in Tulare, CA. Resources: HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration) Apply to the Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program (deadline January 27, 2022) Apply to the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program (deadline February 3, 2022) HHS Announces Record Health Care Workforce Awards in Rural and Underserved Communities Continue the Conversation @JHUNursing @HRSAgov @Sarah_Szanton