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Implementing a community driven academic nursing service: Meeting the needs of communities and students

Katherine H. Murray Frommelt, PhD, Mary McAleece Fuhrman, MSN, Molly K. Frommelt, MSN, and Margaret J. Wimmer, RN, DNS. Department of Nursing and Health, Clarke College, 1550 Clarke Drive, Dubuque, IA 52001, 563-588-6300, margaret.wimmer@clarke.edu

Current cuts in funding for community health services have left many communities with unmet needs. Nursing schools are also faced with the challenge of identifying clinical rotations that provide students with meaningful community based nursing experiences. This paper describes a new and innovative approach developed by a small, Midwestern liberal arts college to solve both problems. The academic nursing service described in this paper is part of the college nursing department and is used by numerous students every year to plan and implement home visits, school nursing, case management, occupational health, and palliative care experiences. Other authors have identified similar needs of communities and nursing students and recommended they be met through community partnerships. This program uniquely developed the idea of the college as a site to receive direct referrals from community agencies. Students and faculty deliver direct care to clients identified through the referral process. The authors will describe the process of designing, implementing, and evaluating the project. Resources, barriers, and sustainability of the project will be discussed. Strategies to guide other schools of nursing interested in developing a community driven academic nursing service will be presented.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: Access and Services, Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Public Health Nursing Education

The 132nd Annual Meeting (November 6-10, 2004) of APHA