Faculty-agency partnering for improved client outcomes

Implications for practice and education include recognition of the value of clinical outcome studies to clinicians and administrators in clinical agencies, as well as to nursing education. This project provides an example of the opportunity for mutually beneficial education and practice partnerships. Faculty, staff, and students demonstrated their ability to use the basic model for outcome studies developed by the United Way of America (1996). Teams of staff, faculty, and students were able to design small scale outcome studies that provided valuable information for clinicians and administrators about evaluating and improving the quality of clinical services, as well as for seeking continued funding. It is anticipated that further benefits may be discovered when faculty work with agencies to target program outcomes that will yield the most powerful effect for these agencies.