School Nurses and RN to BSN Nursing Students

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Community Health
• Public Health Policy

Background:

• Nursing schools face challenges in securing quality clinical placements for students.
• Public schools are increasingly burdened with nursing services due to new legislation and resource limitations.
• School nurses require support to manage expanded responsibilities, such as those related to emergency response plans.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a partnership between a university nursing program and a school district.
• To provide RN to BSN students with meaningful community health clinical experiences.
• To assess the mutual benefits of a collaborative model for nursing students and school nurses.

Main Methods:

• Established a clinical placement partnership between the University of Michigan-Flint and Genesee Intermediate School District (GISD).
• Integrated community health nursing students into selected GISD schools for clinical rotations.
• Facilitated student support for school nurses in meeting new state legislative requirements.

Main Results:

• RN to BSN students obtained valuable clinical knowledge and skills in a community health setting.
• Nursing students assisted school nurses in complying with new state legislation, including requirements for epinephrine auto-injectors and cardiac emergency response plans.
• The partnership fostered a mutually beneficial relationship, enhancing the educational experience for students and providing essential support for school nurses.

Conclusions:

• Collaborative partnerships between nursing schools and local school districts can effectively address challenges in clinical placements and resource allocation.
• Such partnerships offer significant advantages for nursing students, school nurses, and the educational institutions involved.
• Academic institutions should explore and implement similar community-based clinical placement models to benefit nursing education and public health.