This multifaceted workforce initiative, developed by and funded to HCA E&R for 2024-25 by the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, seeks to pilot workforce development strategies for cultivating a pipeline of qualified and diverse new entrants into nursing practice in the home care setting, as well as impactful methods for recruiting and retaining top-notch talent amidst a competitive marketplace.

The objective is to ensure access to home health care services for vulnerable individuals by building and strengthening home care agencies’ abilities to recruit and retain nurses specialized in the delivery of care at home.

The goal of the pilot is to develop a model 'blueprint' for implementation by home health care agencies to increase their capacity to serve as a clinical rotation site for nursing students. Providers interested in learning more about hosting BSN students can contact the Clinical RN Rotation Coordinator at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

At the academic preparatory level, there is a lack of exposure to the home care practice setting, limiting setting-specific curricula in nursing programs and a prevalence of clinical rotations in acute or facility-based settings. These educational conditions exacerbate the challenges to cultivating a robust and qualified pool of practice-ready nurse graduates for the home health setting.

This partnering pilot agency will implement a competency-based Transition to Practice Nurse Residency Program designed to facilitate the transition of new graduate RNs, through enrollment in a training and preceptorship program, into RNs with the requisite clinical competencies for practice in the home care setting. The project will evaluate and report on program effectiveness, distilling best practices for future replication.

Cultivating an effective and replicable method for onboarding novice home care nurses will expand the pool of potential employment candidates beyond those currently recruited with more extensive clinical experience.

The Home Health Care Recruitment & Retention (R&R) pilot program will develop and implement a model for home health care agencies to increase their capacity to recruit and retain a diverse nursing workforce. The R&R program will recruit and engage at least five agencies across NYS, assess their current R&R practices and conduct a comparative analysis against industry and research-based best practices, identifying key gaps that will serve as the targets for evidence-based interventions, along with the provision of technical support to implement them with the goal of strengthening the agency’s capacity to effectively recruit and retain qualified nurses.

The project will conduct a final R&R assessment and convene a roundtable of leaders from piloting agencies to distill lessons learned and develop a final blueprint for building a meaningful and sustainable R&R program. The resulting blueprint will be used to produce a resource guide with tools to support the development of a sustainable R&R program, and will be disseminated to all New York agencies for adoption. Agencies interested in participating in the R&R pilot can contact Celisia Street at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Support for this statewide initiative is made possible through the generous support of the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation

Mission

HCA Education and Research has been awarded funding from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation to provide current home care and hospice providers with the opportunity to offer a Hearts in Home Care Nurse Scholarship (HHCNS) to support the career advancement of current employees who are interested in pursuing an advanced degree or specialty certification in the field of nursing that will serve to enhance the availability and quality of nursing care in the home care setting.

The HHCNS is specifically designed to provide support for individuals who are from a historically underserved or marginalized population, experiencing financial hardship and/or other extenuating circumstances who would otherwise be limited by such barriers and unable to further their professional advancement in the field of nursing.

Ultimately, through the support of and investment in the current home care and hospice workforce, it is our goal to enhance the retention of quality employees while addressing the significant shortage of nurses in these settings.

Who Can Apply?

Any Certified Home Health Agency, Licensed Home Care Services Agency, or Hospice provider duly authorized by the New York State Department of Health to operate in NYS can apply for the scholarship to support their employees by providing a Hearts in Home Care Nurse Scholarship to support their professional advancement in the field of Nursing.

How to Apply

ONLY ONE application per agency (regardless of location or provider type) will be considered. The single submission may include scholarship candidates from different provider types or locations of the parent organization. If more than one application is received from a single agency, the first application received will be reviewed.

A completed scholarship candidate demographic profile and personal statement for each potential scholarship recipient is REQUIRED.

Scholarship Candidate Demographic Profile Excel Template – Click here to Download

The HHCNS funds will be awarded to support Full or Part Time pursuit of Eligible Nursing Degrees (75% of funds) and Enhanced Nursing Certification (25% of funds). When completing the scholarship candidate demographic profile Excel template, there are two sheets, one for new nursing degree candidates, another for enhanced nursing certification scholarship candidates. The application will ask for the sum totals of your scholarship requests in each category.

The demographic profile spreadsheet must contain a completed entry (line) for each scholarship candidate and be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. no later than July 18th at 5PM EST.

Personal Statement Template – Click here to Download.

Personal statements for each scholarship candidate shall be compiled into a single document and uploaded in question 13 of the online application.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY ONLINE | Deadline for applications: July 18, 2025 at 5PM EST

[You may return to and edit your application responses at any time before July 18th at 5PM EST, however you must use the same device that the application was started on to revisit your application in progress.]

Incomplete submissions may not be considered.

HCA E&R’s HHCNS Committee will notify agency awardees in early August 2025. For questions, please contact Taylor Perre.

Awards

The Hearts in Home Care Nurse Scholarship (HHCNS) will make a minimum of 10 awards to home care and hospice agencies providing for a total of $235,000 in individual scholarships for current employees with at least one year of service who meet one or more of the following criteria:

(1) economically disadvantaged,

(2) from a historically underserved or marginalized population, or

(3) have a compelling or extenuating circumstance that presents a barrier advancing their degree attainment or specialty certification in the field of Nursing.

Scholarship Recipient Criteria

The HHCNS will provide financial support for any employee of a CHHA, LHCSA or Hospice agency with at least one year of service who is seeking to begin or further their education or certification in the field of nursing and meet one or more of the following criteria:

(1) economically disadvantaged,

(2) from a historically underserved or marginalized population, or

(3) have a compelling or extenuating circumstance that presents a barrier advancing their degree attainment or specialty certification in the field of Nursing.

Eligible Nursing Degrees

• Licensed Practical Nurse
• Associate Registered Nurse
• Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing
• Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing
• Master of Science in Nursing

Here’s a link to our video highlighting the role of nurses in the home care setting to share with your staff.

Enhanced Nursing Certifications

• Clinical Nurse Specialty Credential (including but not limited to- Wound/Ostomy Care, Certified Nurse Case Manager, IV Therapy, Hospice & Palliative Care, Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist)

Eligible Expenses

All scholarship funds must directly benefit a current employee of the awarded agency (no agency administrative costs are permitted). Eligible expenses may include education tuition & fees, textbooks, required course materials, tutoring, licensure or certification related fees, and other expenses identified as barriers.

Agency Responsibilities 

• Ability to demonstrate that each employee receiving a scholarship meets one or more of the recipient criteria.
• Provides, or supports the collection of, all required data and evaluations for purposes of grant reporting.
• Facilitates the development of a news story or video that highlights the professional journey in home care for at least one of their scholarship recipients.

For more information or to submit a question, please contact Taylor Perre, Associate Director for Policy & Advocacy.

Application Checklist:

1. Identify scholarship candidates and complete their demographic profile on the appropriate sheet of the Excel template [Eligible Nursing Degrees or Enhanced Nursing Certification]

a. Subtotal the number of candidates and requested dollar amounts for each worksheet and submit where indicated on the online application (Questions 10-13)

b. Email your completed spreadsheet to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. no later than July 18th at 5PM EST.

2. Assist scholarship candidates in completing their Personal Statement.

a. Compile the Personal Statements for each scholarship candidate into a single document (Word or PDF preferred) and upload your file in Question #13 of the online application.

3. Complete and Submit your online application no later than July 18, 2025 at 5PM EST.

Recorded Informational Webinar

On June 27, HCA E&Rstaff held a brief question and answer session on the grant and application process. The recording is available below.

Heart in Home Care Nurse Scholarship Committee

Chair: Rochelle Eggleton, MBA, BS, RN, CEO, Bartlett Strategy Group, LLC / Member, HCANYS Board of Directors

Susan Archambault, MA, PT, CPBPM, COS-C, CFPS, Manager of Strategic Vision/ Corporate Compliance Officer, VNS Westchester

Justin Booker, Skilled Nursing Director, Bayada Home Health Care

Ann Frisch, RN, BSN, MBA, AMF Home Care Consulting

Ilyne Rabinowitz, Vice President of Clinical Services, Best Care

Melinda St. Simon, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, COS-C, MEDSURG-BC, Director of Education, Catholic Health – Long Island

Peggy Weissend, RN, BSN, MHA, Assistant Director, VNA of Western NY- Kaleida Health

Staff Contacts

Questions? 

Celisia Street, Vice President for Workforce Development and Innovation

Taylor Perre, Associate Director of Policy and Advocacy