Louisiana Tech University’s Nursing Freshman Advanced Summer Term (NursesFAST) program will continue in 2026 after being awarded renewed support through the Louisiana Department of Health’s Health Care Employment Reinvestment Opportunity (H.E.R.O.) Fund.
Established in 2021 and updated by the Louisiana State Legislature through HB 329 (Act 607) in 2024, the H.E.R.O. Fund supports healthcare training and education programs designed to meet Louisiana’s growing demand for nurses, allied health professionals, and other high-need healthcare providers. The Louisiana Board of Regents projects a shortage of 6,000 registered nurses statewide by 2030.
H.E.R.O. grants require regional partnerships between healthcare providers and training programs to create sustainable solutions that increase healthcare graduates. Louisiana Tech was first selected to host NursesFAST in 2024 and 2025, and was chosen in the most recent funding round to continue the program next year.
Louisiana Tech’s proposal was submitted by Dr. Donna Hood, professor of nursing; Brittany Killins, assistant professor of nursing; and Dr. Jamie Newman, professor of biology, to address the challenge of nursing students beginning anatomy and physiology coursework immediately in their freshman year. Modeled after the College of Engineering and Science’s Freshman Enrichment Program, the summer program brings together 24 incoming nursing majors from across the state to complete anatomy and physiology I and lab, live together on campus, and receive faculty and peer mentoring. Students also participate in weekly networking with nurses and healthcare leaders from across north Louisiana.
In 2025, 12 Louisiana Tech nursing alumni visited the cohort, representing Christus Health, Glenwood Regional Medical Center, Ochsner Health, St. Francis Medical Center, Northern Louisiana Medical Center, and local clinics and surgical centers. The students also connected with executives, recruiters, and board members from Willis Knighton Health, Ochsner, SFMC, the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, and the Louisiana Emergency Response Network.
“This program has exceeded my expectations,” Hood said. “It is amazing to see the students bond as a group and lock into the academic demands with intensity and newly developed study habits. Talking with students from the 2024 cohort and seeing their success in our fast-paced clinical program is incredibly rewarding.”
Maddie Grace Giddens, a student from the inaugural 2024 cohort and now a peer mentor, said, “On my first day of the NursesFAST program I was hoping I made the right choice in choosing nursing as my major. I didn’t know many people at Tech and didn’t know what to expect. I experienced something that would shape my future in ways I could never have imagined. The NursesFAST program gave me the head start I didn’t know I needed.”
Kennedy Cooper, also from the first cohort, said, “One of the best decisions I made was applying to the NursesFAST program. This program made a tremendous impact on my freshman year not just academically, but personally. This is a support system like no other.”
Luke Wood and Ford Finley are nearing graduation and are serving as peer mentors. Wood shared, “The NursesFAST program is something I would recommend to any incoming nursing student.”
Giddens, Cooper, Woods and Finley are serving as peer mentors for the 2025 cohort, continuing the cycle of support and academic readiness that has defined the program’s success.