School and Employers Design Curriculum

NEWS RELEASE

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA SCHOOL OF NURSING AND EMPLOYERS TO DESIGN CURRICULUM TOGETHER
Collaboration to Alleviate Health Care Costs and Nursing Shortage

Minneapolis, MN (June 3, 2005) - Health care costs are outpacing the economy and the nursing shortage is worsening - two reasons why it's more important than ever that newly minted nurses are prepared to meet the real needs of employers, and that their knowledge and skills are used to the fullest extent in the workplace.

In the past, schools of nursing have consulted employers about specific knowledge and skills employees are looking for, but the University of Minnesota School of Nursing is taking the community consultation concept a step further.

It has invited Minnesota employers and other stakeholders to actually co-create nursing curriculum with them.

This Summer: Re-envisioning the Gero Nurse Role

Next week the Center will launch an ambitious project, Shaping the Future for Gerontological Nursing Practice and Education. A wide range of interested parties will work with the school to "re-envision" roles of advanced practice gerontological nurses and, for the first time, actually co-create a new curriculum.

The Center has invited employers, students and grads, faculty, consumer representatives, nursing homes and other public and private aging-related organizations to attend a working session on June 6, 12:30-4:00 p.m. at the Radisson Metrodome, on the East Bank Campus of the University of Minnesota.

"Advanced practice nurses are frequently underused," says project director Christine Mueller, Ph.D., RN, C.N.A.A., "which is a tragedy, especially since we're so short of nurses. Health care will benefit if we can structure the system so that nurses can be as productive as possible."

The effort is funded in part by The John A. Hartford Foundation's Nursing School Geriatric Investment Program, which promotes the education of gerontological nurses and other health professionals, and innovations in gerontological care.

Benefits Both School and Community

The goal, Mueller says, is "for us all to learn from each other, with the net result of improving care of the elderly." She wants partner agencies to think of themselves as part of the School of Nursing and integral to educating students and developing new knowledge, and the school to be invited by the partners to help design innovative practices in community facilities.

The University of Minnesota School of Nursing is ranked among the nation's top nursing schools. It is a leader in nursing research and has a combined undergraduate and graduate enrollment of about 850 students. The school produces 55 percent of the faculty in Minnesota's public and private nursing schools, advanced practice nurses and nurses who can assume leadership positions. It is the oldest continuing university-based school of Nursing. The School of Nursing is one of seven schools and colleges in the Academic Health Center, one of the most comprehensive facilities for health professionals in the nation, fostering interdisciplinary study, research and education.

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