Transforming Policy and Practice

The landscape of health care is changing rapidly, and the practice model for nursing must always be ready to respond—whether through systems change or practice-based technologies.

True leaders must take a proactive position to anticipate what nursing professionals need to stay ahead of the curve—and fearlessly transform policy and practice not just for nurses, but for patients, families, and communities before the next big public health crisis comes. Nurses have always been part of the solution to better health. They’ve been on the battlefields, in boardrooms, and behind breakthroughs. It is critical that they remain in positions of influence while broadening their authority.

At Penn Nursing, we know that clinical practice is central to nursing. Our longstanding partnerships with some of the nation’s top health systems, community organizations, and research facilities allow us to place our students in clinical settings that fit their educational and professional goals. The future involves the co-creation, together with our partners, of a working model for a new era of interprofessional education and practice in health care.

Our Strategic Priorities

Modify the Penn Nursing practice model to create financially viable models that support collaborative clinical education, practice, and translational research.
Advance the generation and translation of practice-based research, quality improvement, evidence-based and best practices, and scholarship within Penn Nursing and across all academic partners.
Increase the engagement of faculty and students with academic partners in the design of innovations involving system change and practice-based technologies to improve patient care, workflow processes, and environments.
Build a strategic collaboration between Penn Nursing and Academic Practice Partners to promote a more diverse nursing workforce reflective of inclusivity, equality, and social justice.

The Path Forward

Clinical practice is central to nursing. Thanks to longstanding partnerships, we place students in clinical settings to gain confidence and practical, hands-on experience that leads to better outcomes for patients and providers. And, through practice, our faculty advance research and strengthen our ability to develop current, cutting-edge curricula that will transform the profession.

For our students, this means they receive practical, hands-on experience and gain confidence in working within health care, academic, or research settings. For our faculty and researchers, the exchange of scholarly information and materials with our practice partners advances our research and enables us to develop effective academic programs. Nursing is committed to advancing inter-professionalism and exploring team care as the pathway to better outcomes for both patients and providers. Goal: $5M over five years.

The Consortium for Practice Excellence: The Consortium for Practice Excellence will serve as an umbrella initiative to capture activities and offer opportunities that will strengthen students’ understanding and application of clinical practice in nursing. As nursing education and the profession have evolved, practice has remained the bedrock of knowledge and skills that inform virtually every aspect of nursing. The Consortium will introduce students to evidence-based practice via a variety of methodologies from technology events to product evaluations to independent study projects with Nursing’s academic practice partners (such as Penn Medicine).

Examples of giving linked to the Practice Excellence priority are:

Partnerships with other schools of nursing and Veteran Administrations

This might include launching a Veterans’ Care Excellence program, collaboration on research to enhance care of veterans, or establishing a fellowship for student nurses who will do clinical rotations in VA hospitals, with the intention of pursuing a career there.

Scholarships for Preceptors

Preceptors are vital to community health and are an integral part of the learning experience for Penn Nursing students. Creating scholarships would incentivize greater participation among community organizations while strengthening and supporting their professional development and care in the community.

Community Practice Scholars

Nursing students would be afforded the opportunity to work within underserved communities for their clinical rotations, thereby strengthening the communities while gaining valuable experience on ways to effectively serve diverse people from all backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities.