The Orvis School of Nursing at the University of Nevada, Reno has received a $75,000 award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for an initiative to strengthen nutrition education in advanced practice nursing. The school was selected as a winner in the Developing Track of the NIH Integration of Nutrition Training into Health Care Education Challenge.

Led by Jacqueline Ferdowsali, DNP, AGACNP-BC, ACNPC-AG, AACN LANP Fellow, professor and Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Track Leader, the initiative will integrate evidence-based nutrition education into advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) training. The goal is to better prepare future nurse practitioners to recognize the role nutrition plays in health, prevent and manage chronic disease and incorporate nutrition into patient care.

“Nutrition is often a small piece of nursing education but through this prize challenge we will be able to better equip our nurse practitioner students to meet the current needs of Nevada’s population through a robust nutrition curriculum,” Ferdowsali said.

The project will bring together nursing and nutrition expertise through a collaboration with David St-Jules, Ph.D., Nutritional Science Graduate Program director and Justine Habibian, Ph.D., Dietetics Graduate Program director, both with the Department of Nutrition in the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources. This interdisciplinary approach will help connect nutrition science with clinical decision-making and prepare future providers to address patients’ nutritional needs as part of comprehensive care.

Through the initiative, the team will develop an innovative curriculum grounded in the Nutrition Assessment Framework and Nutrition Translational Spectrum. The curriculum will emphasize nutrition assessment, counseling, referral and care coordination as fundamental components of clinical practice.

Graduate nursing students will learn to assess nutritional status and diet-related health risks, apply nutrition strategies to prevent and manage chronic disease, provide effective nutrition counseling and collaborate with registered dietitians to support patient outcomes.

A key component of the project will be the development of a first-of-its-kind database of comprehensive clinical cases based on real patient assessments. The database will give students hands-on opportunities to explore the complex relationships between nutrition and health, strengthen clinical reasoning and apply nutrition knowledge to patient-centered care.

The NIH challenge recognizes innovative, evidence-based approaches to integrating nutrition training into health care education. By supporting curricula with potential for broader use, the initiative aims to help prepare nurses and other health professionals to incorporate nutrition more effectively into health promotion, disease prevention and treatment.

The award represents an opportunity for the Orvis School of Nursing to strengthen interdisciplinary education and equip future advanced practice nurses with practical skills to make nutrition an integral part of patient care. By bringing together expertise across disciplines and preparing future nurses to use their knowledge to improve the health and well-being of others, the initiative reflects The Wolf Pack Way and its commitment to collaboration, community and creating a better future together.