[The integration of hospital policies and educational needs: the description of an experience]

The Educational Office of the Hospital and Health District of Venice offered the nurses completing their degree course in Padua University, a support for the final dissertation. The students were invited to select problems or issues relevant for the Hospital or District and were asked to make their final work available to the hospital and their colleagues. Twenty students were involved in this project. The support offered included the development of the study protocol and the bibliographic search. Four articles were published after the final dissertation and/or presented to local conferences. Two contributions were used to introduce relevant changes in the organization of the Health Department. Moreover, the Health Department can use the bibliographic searches, protocols, nursing guidelines and data produced to improve the training of nurses and the local organization of health services.