Academic Practice Partnerships and Nurse Residency Programs

Academic practice partnerships have become more prevalent in nursing practice.  Professional nursing has recognized a need to provide a seamless transition from the classroom to the clinical setting.  A successful partnership shares the commitment to maximize the potential of RNs by creating a culture of trust and shared responsibility to prepare RNs to lead and advance healthcare.  The academic practice partnership should contain joint mentoring programs and opportunities for leadership, research and professional growth.  The Northeast Region VA Nursing Alliance (NERVANA) was developed in 2007.  This is an academic practice partnership between the VA Boston Healthcare System and 6 school of nursing.  The academic affiliates include Boston College, Northeastern University, UMass Boston, UMass Lowell, Regis College and Simmons College.  The mission of the alliance is to employ an innovative educational model to expand and enrich nursing students and faculty, to educate nursing students in the care of veterans, and to expose nursing student to advanced model of medical informatics, patient safety, quality improvement, and integrated systems of care employed by the VAs national healthcare system.  The NERVANA Goals are to maintain and refine the infrastructure to sustain the mission of the program, Increase the number of faculty to teach in nursing programs, create and expand clinical rotations (DEUs, APN rotations), educate students, faculty and the community regarding the unique needs of the veteran population, develop programs at partnering schools to address Veteran health issues, and create multi-school research within the partners.  The organizational chart includes the Advisory Board, Steering Committee, Deans Committee, Academic Sub-Committee, Research, Evaluation and Scholarship Sub-Committee and the Colloquium Series Sub-Committee Within this partnership is the development and implementation of a CCNE accredited Post Baccalaureate Nurse Residency Program.  An important component of the Residence Program is the Evidence Based Practice Project. Each Nurse resident develops and presents a project based on identified Veteran patient care concerns.  By providing the entry level, advanced beginner the necessary knowledge, skills and attitude, the VA Boston Nurse Residency Program is developing facilitators to expand and enhance evidence based nursing projects within the institution.