Kentucky’s health care system faces serious workforce challenges, yet recent federal and institutional actions threaten to deepen those problems rather than solve them. The U.S. Department of Education recently proposed removing nursing from its list of “professional degree” programs for purp oses of federal student loan limits. As a result, many graduate nursing students — including those pursuing advanced practice and higher education faculty roles — now face lower federal loan caps than students in other health professions. Lawmakers and nursing organizations have warned that this change could worsen shortages by making advanced nursing education less affordable at a time when demand is already outpacing supply. (See Associated Press reporting on the decision and congressional response.) Against that backdrop, the University of Kentucky has announced completion of a mandatory review of affiliations with professional and other organizations to identify those that may discriminate on the basis of race. UK is among 45 universities under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. That federal review centered on concerns related to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and participation in a nonprofit diversity initiative known as the PhD Project.  As part of this process, UK has flagged hundreds of organizations for termination or further review. Among them is the Kentucky Nurses Association (KNA), the only full-service nursing professional organization in the commonwealth that is the voice of the nursing workforce. This is not merely an internal university matter. It is a statewide health issue.  Partnerships like these are not optional extras — they are essential to training nurses, advancing practice and improving community health. At a time when Kentucky confronts serious nursing workforce shortages, fragmenting academic and clinical collaborations undermines the stability of our health system. We urge academic leaders to safeguard essential partnerships with professional nursing organizations as part of a shared commitment to the future health of our commonwealth. Kentucky has more than 93,000 nurses practicing across the state. According to the Kentucky Hospital Association, workforce shortages remain one of the most pressing challenges facing hospitals and health systems, even as patient demand continues to rise.  Shortages are particularly acute in rural areas and in nursing education, where a lack of faculty limits how many students can be admitted to programs. Reporting has consistently shown that these shortages affect wait times, access to care and worker burnout across the state. Professional organizations like the Kentucky Nurses Association are not peripheral to addressing these challenges. For nearly 120 years, KNA has partnered with academic institutions, health care systems and policymakers to support nursing education, research and practice. Through the Kentucky Nurses Foundation, significant money has been raised for nursing scholarships and research grants — investments that directly support the workforce pipeline. The KNA and its members have also played central roles in improving public health outcomes. Nurse leaders associated with KNA helped advance tobacco control policy in a state long burdened by tobacco-related disease. During the COVID-19 pandemic, KNA-supported efforts helped expand Louisville’s LouVax initiative into a mobile vaccination program that delivered more than 130,000 vaccines to vulnerable populations.Academic and clinical leaders today are navigating an extraordinarily complex regulatory environment, and that pressure is real. Compliance with federal law is critical, but so is preserving the partnerships that allow Kentucky to educate nurses, care for patients and respond to public health crises. As Kentucky’s health care needs grow, the path forward depends on collaboration, not fragmentation. Strong universities do not operate in isolation. They rely on partnerships with professional organizations that help educate students, advance research and connect academic work to real-world impact.  For nursing in Kentucky, few partnerships are more important than the longstanding relationship between the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Nurses Association. To address workforce shortages, improve health outcomes and prepare the next generation of nurses, partnerships like the one between UK and KNA must be protected. Collaboration is not a liability. It is a strength. The post UK ‘flags’ Kentucky Nurses Association for cancellation or review as part of federal probe appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less