A New Framework for Practice–Academic Partnerships During the Pandemic—and into the Future

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many health care facilities closed their doors to nursing students, depriving them of the experience of caring for patients, a foundation of nursing education. The purpose of this article is to report on how the National Council of State Boards of Nursing convened nurse leaders from around the country to explore this problem and develop possible solutions. Coming together virtually, these leaders recommended a national model, the practice–academic partnership, to provide nursing students with in-person clinical experiences during the pandemic. This model is unique in its recognition of the important role of nursing regulatory bodies in these partnerships. The practice–academic partnership model creates clinical education opportunities for students during a public health crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, the model could be applied to meet the chronic challenges nursing education programs have often faced in securing clinical sites, even in the absence of a global or national public health emergency. We provide the context in which the practice–academic partnership model was developed, along with keys to its successful implementation and suggestions for its evaluation. We also discuss the implications of using this model once the pandemic ends.

A Preliminary Examination of Healthcare Facilities’ Nurse Staffing Strategies to Address COVID-19 Surges

“…Despite early efforts by many, including NCSBN, to push for a national practice–academic partnership model in 2020, survey response trends indicate limited progress on the issue ( NCSBN, 2020 ; Spector et al, 2021 ). Executives representing only 11 facilities indicated prelicensure nursing students served as paid support staff during the pandemic.…”

“…To address the dual challenges presented by potential deficiencies in prelicensure students’ clinical education and regional workforce shortages, in 2020, NCSBN recommended a national practice–academic partnership model ( NCSBN, 2020 ). The objective of this model was to provide nursing students with in-person clinical experiences during the pandemic and to provide employers an opportunity to alleviate staffing shortages ( Spector et al, 2021 ). Then, now, and moving forward, such partnerships are critical not just to support and improve the clinical training of prelicensure students but also to mitigate the need for extra mentoring and continuing education for recent graduates ( Smith et al, 2021 ; Michel et al, 2021 ; Crismon et al, 2021 ; Bultas & L’Ecuyer, 2022 ; Lanahan et al, 2022 ).…”

Approach to advanced practice nursing student clinical during COVID‐19

“…Our faculty and clinical placement team were proactive in reaching out to clinical partners at the onset of the pandemic to provide information about student needs and disaster management support and have continued to remain in close contact with our partners and check in with each surge. The continual nurturing of these clinical practice partnerships allowed for a variety of innovative student experiences and a better understanding of the struggles of clinicians during a global pandemic (Spector et al, 2021 ) Faculty also contacted colleagues and leaders of COVID‐19 initiatives about opportunities for students to obtain clinical hours and recommended distant students seek volunteer COVID‐19 response opportunities in their areas of the country. These faculty relationships and actions at the pandemic onset have helped provide high‐quality clinical experiences for our students during this challenging time (Roberts et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Our institution has also worked to develop micro-credentials for our students as rapid response practice preparation (Ryerse, 2017). One of these micro-credentials provides students the opportunity to participate in a structured study of contact tracing and COVID science, including synthesis and application activities and a group debrief.…”

Assessing the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Nursing Education: A National Study of Prelicensure RN Programs

“…With this trend in mind and confronted by the reality of the public health crisis, NCSBN recommended a national practice–academic partnership model in 2020. The goals of the recommended partnership were twofold: (1) to provide nursing students with meaningful in-person clinical experiences during the pandemic and (2) to offer employers a means to alleviate staffing shortages at least temporarily ( NCSBN, 2021 ; Spector et al, 2021 ). While these partnerships are not new ( AACN, n.d. ), during the pandemic they proved to be invaluable to nursing programs ( Spector et al, 2020 ).…”