School of Nursing dean to lead nurse-preparation
initiative funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

CHAPEL HILL -- In an effort to prepare future nurses with the knowledge and skills necessary to improve patient care and the health-care environments in which they work, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing a $590,000 grant to develop a nursing school curriculum on quality and safety.

"It is an honor to partner with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on a project that will change what and how we teach future health professionals," said Dr. Linda Cronenwett, School of Nursing dean and project director. "In the end, we expect these changes to make a difference in the quality and safety of health care everywhere."

The multi-phase project is slated to begin in October. In the 18-month first phase, a panel of 17 national nursing and medical leaders will outline the core knowledge and skills that should be mastered by prelicensure and advanced practice nursing students.

The panel will examine key content areas including patient-centered care, professional communication, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, practice-based learning, informatics, systems-thinking and improvement, error, human factors and safety.

A range of strategies for clinical, classroom and simulation-based learning will be developed, including options aimed at interprofessional student groups, in addition to the nursing curriculum.

In subsequent project phases, the School of Nursing will form partnerships with leading professional associations to disseminate information and address the same challenges for graduate and advanced practice education.

"We know that there are significant problems related to safety and quality in the U.S. health-care system," said Cronenwett. "To improve, health professionals need to be able to determine what constitutes good care from the scientific evidence, identify the gaps between good care and local actual care, and know what activities are necessary to close any gaps."

Dr. Gwen Sherwood, School of Nursing associate dean and professor, will serve as project co-investigator.

"Nursing educators are eager to discover effective ways to promote student learning of the complex knowledge, skills and attitudes that will make them ready for being full partners in the work of systems improvement," she said.

The grant funding counts toward the university’s Carolina First campaign goal of $1.8 billion. Carolina First is a comprehensive, multi-year, private fund raising campaign to support Carolina’s vision of becoming the nation’s leading public university.

UNC’s School of Nursing was established in 1950 in response to the overwhelming need for nurses statewide. It was the first nursing school in the state to: offer a four-year bachelor’s degree (1950), offer a master’s degree in nursing (1955), initiate continuing education for nurses (1964), offer a doctorate in nursing (1989) and offer an accelerated bachelor’s degree option for second degree students (2001).

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health-care issues facing the United States. 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 solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.

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UNC School of Nursing contact: Amanda P. Meyers, (919) 966-1412 or Amanda_Meyers@unc.edu