Academic Practice Partnership: Exploring a Model for Collaborative Nursing Education in Infection Prevention and Control

The academic-practice partnership has become increasingly important in nursing education. An academic-practice partnership between a health systems infection prevention and control (IPC) department and its academic affiliate may provide an opportunity to help advance undergraduate nursing student's IPC knowledge and skills and provide IPC staff the opportunity to develop their clinical teaching skills as they teach and mentor students. We convened an exploratory workshop between our private university-based college of nursing and its affiliated health care system IPC department to brainstorm and identify areas for mutual collaboration and gauge interest in formalizing a partnership.

Pass or fail: Teachers' experience of assessment of postgraduate critical care nursing students' competence in placement. A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Learning in placement is essential to postgraduate critical care nursing students' education. Assessment of students' competence in placement is important to ensure highly qualified postgraduate critical care nurses. The placement model applied in Norway involves students being assessed by a preceptor in practice and a teacher from the university. The teacher has a more distant role in placement, and the aim of this study was to explore how the teachers experience the assessment of postgraduate critical care nursing students' competence in placement. Additionally, to explore the content of assessment documents used for postgraduate critical care nursing placement education in Norway.

METHODS

This study has a qualitative design with main data collection from individual interviews with 10 teachers from eight universities and colleges in Norway. Additionally, we performed a document analysis of assessment documents from all 10 universities and colleges providing postgraduate critical care nursing education in Norway. We followed the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research.

RESULTS

The teachers experienced the assessment of postgraduate critical care nursing students' competence in placement as important but complex, and some found it difficult to determine what critical care nursing competence is at advanced level. A thematic analysis resulted in one main theme: "Teacher facilitates the bridging between education and practice." Furthermore, three themes were identified: "Assessment based on trust and shared responsibility"; "The teacher's dual role as judge and supervisor"; and "A need for common, clear and relevant assessment criteria".

CONCLUSIONS

Teachers have a key role in placement as they contribute to the bridging between education and practice by providing valuable pedagogical and academic input to the assessment process. We suggest that more teachers should be employed in joint university and clinical positions to enhance the collaboration between practice and education. Clear and relevant assessment criteria are essential for providing assessment support for both students and educators. Education and practice should collaborate on developing assessment criteria. Further, there is a need to collaborate on developing, both nationally and internationally, common, clear, relevant and user-friendly assessment tools.

"Because of this rotation, this is what I want to do": Implementation and evaluation of a telehealth opioid use disorder clinical placement for nurse practitioner students

ABSTRACT

The lack of clinicians comfortable prescribing buprenorphine is a barrier to access for people with opioid use disorder (OUD). Accordingly, a telehealth OUD treatment clinic, Ophelia, launched a clinical training program for nurse practitioner (NP) students. The goal of this study was to assess a telehealth-based model of OUD clinical training. To evaluate the program, we (1) identified students' knowledge related to providing OUD care to patients before and after their clinical rotation with Ophelia and (2) characterized students' attitudes about providing OUD care following their clinical rotation with Ophelia. Online pre- and postsurveys were conducted with 57 and 29 students, respectively, and semistructured interviews were conducted with 19 students who completed clinical rotations with Ophelia. We used quantitative descriptive analysis to compare presurvey and postsurvey results and conducted thematic analysis to analyze qualitative interview data. We identified three themes from the interviews: the continuum of learning opportunities, the comfort providing OUD treatment following participants' clinical rotation, and the relevance of a substance use disorder clinical rotation for all NP students. The survey also supported these findings. Of note, there were descriptive differences between presurvey and postsurvey responses related to an increase in knowledge, preparedness, and acquisition of skills to treat OUD. Using a telehealth clinical rotation for NP students to learn about OUD treatment may represent an important step in increasing the number of clinicians who can prescribe buprenorphine. These findings can inform interventions and policies that target clinician training barriers.

Academic-Practice Partnership to Prevent and Manage Pressure Injuries: An Evidence-Based Quality Improvement Initiative

PURPOSE

This evidence-based quality improvement (EBQI) initiative examined the effect of an academic-practice (A-P) partnership on improvement in quality measures in an acute care setting, specifically hospital-acquired pressure injury (HAPI) prevention and management.

DESIGN

A pre-/postdescriptive design was conducted using the practice-informed active learning program to guide the project.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

The EBQI initiative was conducted at a Southern Gulf-Coast university college of nursing and clinical nursing practice leaders at its affiliated 406-bed academic health center/level I trauma center, regional burn center, and comprehensive stroke center. Both institutions are located in the Southeastern United States (Mobile, Alabama).

METHODS

The A-P council used a participatory action research approach and developed a practice-informed active learning program incorporating Melnyk's evidence-based practice (EBP) steps, the Donabedian Model and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Stakeholder Engagement in Question Development and Prioritization (SEED).

METHOD

Hospital-acquired pressure injuries were selected as the quality outcome to address. To identify HAPI prevention/management evidenced-based practices, the A-P council conducted an integrative literature review and developed a concept map and the Pressure Injury Prevention Gap Analysis Instrument. The gap analysis identified significant gaps between EBP and current pressure injury prevention practices, with priority ranking of gaps for action by key stakeholders.

OUTCOME

Following the practice-informed active learning program objectives, the A-P council identified 79 HAPI best EBPs organized by Donabedian domains of structure, process, and outcome and prioritized 3 gaps for action. Actions to address the HAPI gaps included: restructuring the hospital HAPI program, incorporating appropriate leadership to guide the HAPI program, modifying the HAPI reporting process, hiring specialized experts (WOC nurses) with emphasis on pressure injury prevention, establishing a standardized HAPI prevalence survey, improving electronic documentation, increasing transparency of HAPI reporting, improving HAPI accountability at the unit level, and exploring technology to enhance skin assessment. While HAPIs increased by 6.3% from 2019 (n = 104) to 2021 (n = 111), HAPI severity (Stages 3 and 4) decreased by 9.9% from 2019 (n = 14, or 13.46%) to 2021 (n = 4, or 3.6%).

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Our experience with this quality improvement initiative indicates that an A-P partnership can provide a model to address complex clinical problems, quality indicators, and quality improvement while advancing a culture of inquiry and scholarship and building nursing capacity.

Development and Validation of an Operational Model for Nursing Academic-Practice Partnerships

BACKGROUND

Several definitions and guiding principles for nursing academic-practice partnerships exist.

PROBLEM

There remains a gap between academic-practice partnership definitions and practical operational models, thereby limiting schools of nursing ability to engage in productive partnerships. This article describes the development and validation of a novel Operational Model for Nursing Academic-Practice Partnerships.

APPROACH

An email survey of all nursing faculty (n = 228) identified quantity and types of faculty-led academic-practice partnerships. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analyzed via thematic analysis conducted by 2 members of the project team and validated by the full project team.

OUTCOMES

The Operational Model for Academic-Practice Partnerships was created and is comprised of 8 partnership strategies: innovation, embedded faculty, joint appointment, consultant, independent practice, volunteer, scholarship, and clinical site development.

CONCLUSION

We offer this model as a framework to structure the development, implementation, and evaluation of academic-practice partnerships at nursing schools.

Nursing Graduates' Preparedness for Practice: Substantiating the Call for Competency-Evaluated Nursing Education

Practice readiness continues to be a challenge in healthcare. This was especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. This focused descriptive-correlational study examined nurses' perceived preparedness for practice during the pandemic. One hundred and eighty-four registered nurses (RN) responded to Qualtrics survey questions addressing the competencies they perceived they had and the competencies they felt they needed that would have better prepared them to care for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results demonstrated that although these nurses felt competent in certain areas, they perceived that they needed more education in those same areas to feel better prepared. Bivariate correlations and linear regression analysis indicated that institutional competency development, education, and work experience influenced perceived competency.

The Benefits, Challenges, and Strategies toward Establishing a Community-Engaged Knowledge Hub: An Integrative Review

Current knowledge creation and mobilization efforts are concentrated in academic institutions. A community-engaged knowledge hub (CEKH) has the potential for transdisciplinary and cross-sectorial collaboration between knowledge producers, mobilizers, and users to develop more relevant and effective research practices as well as to increase community capacity in terms of knowledge production. Objective: To summarize existing original research articles on knowledge hubs or platforms and to identify the benefits, challenges, and ways to address challenges when developing a CEKH. Methods: This study followed a systematic integrative review design. Following a comprehensive search of academic and grey literature databases, we screened 9030 unique articles using predetermined inclusion criteria and identified 20 studies for the final synthesis. We employed thematic analysis to summarize the results. Results: The focus of the majority of these knowledge mobilization hubs was related to health and wellness. Knowledge hubs have a multitude of benefits for the key stakeholders including academics, communities, service providers, and policymakers, including improving dissemination processes, providing more effective community interventions, ensuring informed care, and creating policy assessment tools. Challenges in creating knowledge hubs are generally consistent for all stakeholders, rather than for individual stakeholders, and typically pertain to funding, resources, and conflicting perspectives. As such, strategies to address challenges are also emphasized and should be executed in unison. Conclusions: This study informs the development of a future CEKH through the identification of the benefits, challenges, and strategies to mitigate challenges when developing knowledge hubs. This study addresses a literature gap regarding the comparisons of knowledge hubs and stakeholder experiences.

Using an academic-practice partnership to enhance ambulatory care nursing skills

BACKGROUND

Ambulatory nursing services are essential to healthcare in communities, but nursing curricula often omit ambulatory care training. The purpose of this project was to enhance ambulatory care competencies among nursing students and provide ongoing education for practicing nurses through an academic-practice partnership.

METHODS

A four-year externally funded project targeted enhancements to undergraduate nursing curricula and development activities. Students received didactic content and clinical experiences and were evaluated to assess critical ambulatory care nursing skills. Existing continuing education offerings were enhanced with team-based practice content.

RESULTS

Despite pandemic-related clinical training changes, data from multiple quarters showed improvement in students' perceptions of self-efficacy (1.7-4.28-point increases) and actual performance (3.46-4.05-point increases) of core competencies on the 20-point evaluation scales. In addition, students rated simulations favorably, with scores ranging from 1.4 to 1.9 on the 2-point subscales.

CONCLUSION

An academic-practice partnership provides mutually beneficial opportunities for enhancing the ambulatory care nursing workforce through undergraduate education and training and professional development for practicing nurses.

Academic Faculty Shadowing Their Graduate Nurses: A Case Study

AIM

The purpose of this study was to describe insights gained by academic nursing faculty after shadowing one of their new graduate nurses.

BACKGROUND

Shadowing experiences have been successfully used to orient students and new nurses to the role and reality of clinical practice. However, no studies were found on the experience of faculty shadowing a new graduate. This study addressed that gap.

METHOD

A case series design and methodology used both qualitative and quantitative data collection procedures. Qualitative data were derived from faculty during a debriefing session; quantitative data were obtained from a short survey completed by new graduates and faculty.

RESULTS

Faculty identified challenges faced by new graduates and opportunities to modify their nursing programs by addressing patient care delivery, time management, communication, and role ambiguity in more detail.

CONCLUSION

A shadowing experience for academic faculty leaders can help bridge the academic-practice gap and promote collaborative efforts to improve preparation for practice.

Brilliant at the Basics: An Academic Practice Partnership to Build Nursing Management Expertise

This article describes the importance of building academic and practice partnerships, and the process in developing and implementing a successful leadership academy in transforming emerging nurse leaders. In addition, this article highlighted the value on the evaluation and outcomes of the educational program pertaining to positive changes in the workplace. In its initial phase, the health system conducted a needs assessment that provided vital information to enhance nursing management development skills through the initiation of a leadership training academy for nurse leaders. The vital information obtained in the needs assessment was used as a framework in working on topical outline and content objectives developed as a joint initiative between the university-based school of nursing and health professions and the health system that shared a similar mission, vision, and goals. Thus, "Brilliant at the Basics" nursing leadership academy was formed. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2021;52(3):136-141.].

Academic practice partnerships: A review of a statewide population health nursing leadership initiative

OBJECTIVE

In 2012, the state public health nurse (PHN) Leaders Workgroup formed with members from the state PHN Administrators organization and PHN faculty to facilitate the development of statewide PHN Academic practice partnerships (APP's). In 2016, the workgroup received a state Nurses Foundation grant for $6,000 followed by $5,000 in 2017 to fund the first 2 years of APP projects.

DESIGN

The workgroup disseminated two calls for proposals to the Deans of state academic nursing institutions and local health department leaders, utilizing an application adapted from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) APP Toolkit. Selection criteria included project intent; partner support; anticipated outcomes; budget; geographic location; and alignment with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Culture of Health framework.

SAMPLE AND RESULTS

Sixteen proposals were received and reviewed by workgroup members resulting in 10 funded pilot projects. In 2018, the workgroup was awarded $55,980 from the RWJF to expand this initiative; funding an additional 10 APP's to date. Partnerships were reported as valuable by students, faculty, and practice partners. Barriers included provider participation, adherence to project timelines, communication, and the navigation of group dynamics.

CONCLUSION

Academic practice partnerships positively impact patient outcomes, patient satisfaction, nursing outcomes, and student learners.

Systems Thinking for Managing COVID-19 in Health Care Systems: Seven Key Messages

This article provides the most current guidelines for nurse educators and nurses to use systems thinking to manage COVID-19 in health systems. A working definition of systems thinking is offered, with a review of basic knowledge and care in the context of the system awareness model (SAM). Seven key messages assist nurse educators and nurses in the management of COVID-19 patients culminating in leadership of complex health care systems using systems thinking. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2020;51(9):402-411.].

Highlighting Simulation Practices in the Neonatal Environment

Simulation is an effective teaching methodology to enhance clinical thinking and reasoning skills among nursing students and practicing nurses. The opportunity to practice in a safe environment maintains a structure that promotes learning at all levels. There are various levels of fidelity as well as cost to facilitate simulation in the neonatal setting. This at times hinders the ability to incorporate simulation into educational practices. The purpose of this article is to provide a discussion on simulation practices in the neonatal setting, an overview of low-cost neonatal simulation exemplars, and implications for practice.