Enhancing the sustainability of a Dedicated Education Unit: Overcoming obstacles and strengthening partnerships

Dedicated Education Units are innovative teaching models that involve collaboration between nurse educators and clinical institutions to provide effective clinical learning. An essential requisite for Dedication Education Units is an effective academic-practice partnership. Following the initiation of a Dedicated Education Unit, partnerships can fade and lines of communication can deteriorate, resulting in dissatisfaction or termination of the partnership.

The ongoing sustainability of a Dedicated Education Unit was questioned due to personnel turnover, communication challenges, and infrequent provision of training for nurses.

A redesign project was implemented with the goal to improve academic-practice collaboration, confirm mutual benefit, and envision long-term sustainability. Focus groups were conducted with key stakeholders to identify and evaluate program revisions following three semesters of student rotations on the redesigned Dedicated Education Unit.

The redesigned Dedicated Education Unit elements received overwhelmingly positive feedback from nurses, students, and faculty. Participants reported increased collaboration between the academic and practice partners, improved communication between faculty and nurses, increased student satisfaction, and improved role preparation for nurses.

This project demonstrated that Dedicated Education Units can provide mutual benefits to academic and practice partners; however, ongoing collaboration from all members of the partnership is essential for ongoing sustainability.