An Academic Practice Partnership: Helping New Registered Nurses to Advance Quality and Patient Safety

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Academic-Practice Partnerships

Background:

• Healthcare environments face challenges impacting nursing practice and education.
• Quality improvement (QI) and nursing education require innovative approaches.
• Academic institutions and healthcare facilities must collaborate to address these needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish an academic-practice partnership between a university and a medical center.
• To integrate undergraduate nursing students into the medical center's performance improvement program.
• To enhance nursing students' competency in quality improvement methodologies and support the medical center's data needs.

Main Methods:

• An academic-practice partnership was formed involving undergraduate nursing students and hospital staff.
• Students participated in the medical center's performance improvement program, working with preceptors.
• The Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) model was used for data collection, analysis, and dissemination.

Main Results:

• The partnership successfully enabled the college to teach mandated quality improvement methodologies.
• The medical center enhanced its capacity to obtain data for quality improvement initiatives.
• Students gained practical experience in quality processes through collaborative group projects.

Conclusions:

• The academic-practice partnership effectively achieved its dual goals for education and healthcare quality.
• The collaboration provided valuable learning experiences for nursing students and practical support for the medical center.
• Ongoing evolution and lessons learned are crucial for the continued growth of such partnerships.