Leading through collaboration: a regional academic/service partnership that works.

This article describes a regional education/service partnership that has thrived for > 20 years. The collaboration takes place between a tertiary medical center and a university-based school of nursing located in a rural underserved area. Several critical issues have been creatively addressed by the partners including: the shortage of new nurses and nurse educators; the shortage of advanced practice nurses; the need to foster competence in new employees, particularly new graduates; and the advancement of clinical nursing research. Throughout history, academic/service partnerships have been discussed and developed. Cronenwett suggests that while the models have changed and evolved, there is a long-term history of collaborative partnerships in nursing.(1) Some of the most successful partnerships described in the literature have occurred when hospitals and schools of nursing share their governance structure.(2) However, in today's world, collaboration is based on a pressing need to address complex issues even when schools of nursing and clinical agencies have different governing structures. O'Neil suggests that the building blocks of an effective partnership include a coherent institutional strategy, potential partners that bring value and assets to the partnership, mutually beneficial goals, and accountability to each other.(3) Time and timing, tact, talent, and trust are other essentials of a productive partnership.(4) This article describes a collaborative model in which a university-based school of nursing has collaborated with a tertiary care hospital. The institutions have separate governing structures and each has its own personnel policies, job descriptions, and benefits. The collaboration takes place in a rural area of the state characterized by poverty and high morbidity and mortality. There is one hospital and one baccalaureate program in the region. There are also several associate degree programs in nursing (ADN) and these programs have been involved in many of the collaborative initiatives. Several critical issues have been addressed by the partners including: the shortage of new nurses and nurse educators, the shortage of advanced practice nurses, the need to foster competence in new employees (particularly new graduates), and the advancement of clinical nursing research.

Funding in higher education: where does nursing fit?

Resource allocation systems for higher education including funding formulas vary greatly with most models grounded in the traditional Arts and Sciences, that is, campus-based, large-classroom instruction. The implications for nursing, a clinical discipline, are monumental. Funding models in general use do not account for the requirements of nursing education related to clinical learning (vulnerable patients, liability, large number of contact hours in clinical laboratories). Little information related to funding issues in schools of nursing has appeared in nursing literature over the past 10 years, and there are limited data for administrators of nursing programs to use as benchmarks. Administrators in nursing education programs must acquire a better understanding of budget and finance systems in higher education at state and university levels. Likewise, nursing education leaders are challenged to collectively verify and clarify the unique needs of nursing education in the budget process and to become active in educating college and university administrators and state legislatures about these unique needs.

Surviving the enrollment growth funding formula.

Leadership changes in universities usually bring about philosophical and operational shifts within the institution. When these shifts involve resource allocation procedures, nursing programs are often highlighted because their costs appear great in comparison to traditional academic units. This was the exact situation at East Carolina University, a case history of which is presented here. Strategies for dealing constructively with this negative situation are outlined, as are lessons learned. A positive outcome required a thorough knowledge of funding processes, faculty involvement in generating solution alternatives, frequent and effective communication, and patience.