Changes in the nation’s health-care system have shifted
health-care decisions from state and national levels to the local
level. This development demands a new type of health-care
professional throughout Nebraska.
Through a three-year grant, the University of Nebraska Medical
Center’s College of Nursing has implemented a curriculum
that will help meet that demand. The funding, derived from the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and a UNMC
Educational Technology Grant, will significantly expand the
existing scope of graduate community health nursing education
provided by the college to Nebraska.
In addition to more educational offerings, the college’s
efforts will prepare nurses who will be able to identify a
community’s priority health needs, recommend priority health
programs, and foster partnerships to develop innovative programs
and services at the community level. The state’s communities
are in need of health-care professionals with these skills.
"Expansion will be accomplished using a curriculum with a
health-system focus," said Bevely Hays, Ph.D., director of
the curriculum project. "The curriculum will prepare a
Health Systems Nurse Specialist to provide leadership for
reshaping nursing and health care in communities and health-care
organizations."
Registered nurses who enter the program will earn a
master’s degree with an emphasis in either community health
nursing or nursing administration. Seven nurses in Gering and
Omaha are enrolled in the first class, which began in January.
"Systems thinking is a common thread for community health
nurses and nursing administrators in a variety of settings,"
Dr. Hays said. "Fostering change at the system level holds
the greatest chance for lasting impact, and that’s what our
graduates will do."
To reach nurses in rural areas, the College of Nursing is
employing a variety of computer
technologies, such as desktop video conferencing, chat rooms,
e-mail, and the Internet. The breadth of the curriculum and the
manner in which it is being delivered to the state is in keeping
with the college’s already longstanding efforts toward
educating advance-practice nurses across Nebraska. In addition to
delivering the Health System Nurse Specialist curriculum to
students near their home communities, Dr. Hays said using the
technology involved in the distributive-learning approach will
help students become comfortable with technologies that will be
crucial in the health-care systems of the future.
UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the
state. Through its commitment to research, education and patient
care, UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading
centers for cancer research and treatment and solid organ
transplantation. More than $25 million in research grants and
contracts are awarded to UNMC scientists annually. In addition,
UNMC’s educational programs are responsible for training more
health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other
institution.