Document Actions

• 
• 

Curry College-Milton, MA

Team Members:
Project Description:

Curry College Division of Nursing Joins National Nursing Quality and Safety Project

The Division of Nursing at Curry College has been selected as a pilot school for the current phase of the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) project, along with only 14 other schools nationwide.

The overall goal of the QSEN project is to boost commitment to Institute of Medicine quality and safety competencies among pre-licensure nursing programs.  This phase will determine what resources, faculty development and change strategies will aid the development of those competencies.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded the project's second phase in March, 2007, with a $1.09 million grant to principal investigator, Linda Cronenwell, PhD., FAAN, dean of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing.  Cronenwett, along with national experts among the QSEN faculty and an advisory board, selected the pilot schools in July, 2007, from 53 applications.

"We know that there are significant problems related to safety and quality in the U. S. healthcare system," Cronenwett said.  "To improve care, we have to educate future healthcare professionals so that they know what good care is, how to identify gaps between good care and the local care they provide, and what activities they could initiate, if necessary, to close any gaps.  These pilot schools will be integral to our learning about what educational strategies work to accomplish this goal."

Pilot schools will be supported in their curricular change efforts in six broad areas, including patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, safety and informatics.  They must produce a curriculum that integrates those six domains; develop and evaluate teaching strategies for classroom, clinical and simulation labs; and document challenges met during the processes of curricular change.  Each school will receive $20,000 for the first year (July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008) and an additional $5,000 for a final quarter (July 1, 2008 through Sept. 30, 2008) to fund their individual project designs.

The Division of Nursing at Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts is committed to active engagement in curricular change to incorporate the QSEN quality and safety competencies.



Elizabeth Kudzma, DNSc MPH is Curry's QSEN project director.  The QSEN proposal was also written by Curry's nursing faculty, Maureen Murphy, PhD and Cathleen Santos MSN.  Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has agreed to be Curry's clinical partner through Patricia Folcarelli PhD, Director of Professional Development.

The pilot project funds ten curriculum strategies to enhance quality and safety in nursing education.  Curry's QSEN pilot team has the full support of the nursing faculty and Chairperson, Linda Caldwell DNSc.  Strategies and results will be shared on the official QSEN Web site, http://www.qsen.org.
The Web site is a comprehensive source for quality and safety education for nurses, as well as a forum to share knowledge and strategies about these areas.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country.  As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify soulutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change.

For more than 35 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves.  When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime.  For more information, visit http://www.rwjf.org

Link:

 

Curry College Division of Nursing Joins National Nursing Quality and Safety Project