Texas grant strengthens TWU nursing student readiness

Aug. 25, 2026 — DENTON — Texas Woman’s University’s College of Nursing has received a $749,977 state grant to transform how undergraduate nursing students practice, demonstrate and ultimately master clinical skills they will need before entering the workforce.

The two-year Nursing Innovation Grant Program award from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, announced by Gov. Greg Abbott this month, will fund a TWU Nursing project called INSPIRE-CBE. The project will benefit students across TWU’s Denton, Dallas and Houston campuses.

The initiative gives students more opportunities to practice clinical skills in simulation labs with faculty and trained clinical teaching assistants before demonstrating abilities in one-on-one simulated clinical exams as part of a competency-based curriculum.

“Right now, a nursing student can pass every course and still walk onto a hospital floor wondering if they're ready,” said Niki Fogg, PhD, RN, assistant dean in the College of Nursing and project director. “This grant lets us change that. It gives students what they ask for most, which is more time to practice in open labs at all three campuses, with the equipment and the people to help them.”

This approach shifts the emphasis from completing a set amount of clinical training to demonstrating competency. Students who do not demonstrate competency on their first attempt will receive individualized coaching and additional opportunities to practice before being reassessed.

“Then, before they graduate, they sit down with a real person playing a patient and show us they can do the job,” Fogg said. “If they're not there yet, we keep working with them.”

Grant funding supports simulation equipment at each of TWU’s three campuses, faculty leads, simulation lab technicians, the standardized patient program and faculty training. 

Approximately 900 students are expected to participate in INSPIRE-CBE during the grant period. The first student-facing simulated clinical exams are expected to begin with the Junior 1 cohort in spring 2027, with the program expanding by one cohort each semester.

The grant runs from Sept. 1, 2026, through Aug. 31, 2028, and is part of more than $5.6 million awarded to eight Texas colleges and universities through the Nursing Innovation Grant Program. The Coordinating Board administers the program, which supports new and expanded approaches to nursing education designed to increase the state’s healthcare workforce capacity.

The award comes as Texas continues to face a significant nursing workforce shortage, including projected shortfalls in North Texas and the Gulf Coast — regions served by TWU’s campuses.

In addition to Fogg, Laura Kubin, PhD, RN, serves as co-project director and Denton campus faculty lead. Amanda Aguirri, PhD, RN, is the Houston campus faculty lead, and Shopha Tserotas, PhD, RN, is the Dallas campus faculty lead.

Page last updated 1:09 PM, August 25, 2026