A New Kind of Clinical Experience 

According to Gallup polls, nurses are the most respected professionals in the US, and they have been for the last 23 years. Yet, a shortage of nurses is projected to last into the next decade. This shortage is compounded by high turnover rates of nurses in their first positions and more than ten percent of new nurses leaving the profession. As a nurse educator for four decades, I believe the disconnect between the academic and clinical components of nursing education contributes to this shortage scenario. We can all agree that clinical instruction, the process of applying nursing knowledge in direct patient care, is the core of nursing education. Improving its quality demands a new model of nursing education --- an orchestrated partnership between academia and clinical settings that deeply involves selected staff from the clinical side in the design and delivery of clinical nursing education. I think of clinical instruction as the harmony produced for students when designated clinical instructors work closely with clinical nursing staff to craft and evaluate direct care experiences. This model is now being implemented through the efforts of BAYADA Education in partnership with Cooper University Health Care and Thomas Edison State University in New Jersey. 

The BAYADA Education model of clinical nursing education incorporates the direct involvement of clinical nursing staff supported and guided by a Director of Clinical Instruction who selects patient care units and works with nursing staff to promote “best clinical experience practices.” Clinical nursing staff are enthusiastic “clinical partners” in the students’ education, collaborating with clinical instructors and receiving ongoing resources and staff development to hone clinical teaching skills. BAYADA Education clinical instructors and clinical partners (nursing staff) are deeply committed to both the goals of the clinical setting and the educational program to promote the highest quality of patient care through best practices in clinical nursing instruction. 

The BAYADA Education model includes other unique features such as:

• Regular meetings between the BAYADA Education Clinical Instruction staff and nursing leaders in the academic setting, i.e., TESU, to monitor student progress
• Daily and end of course assessment by students on the nature and quality of their clinical experiences
• The BAYADA Education Resource Chain providing information/strategies through a Clinical Resource Website for all nursing staff and instructors in the clinical setting
• Seminars for clinical nursing staff
• The availability of a nursing education consultant who provides direction and resources
• A full time Director of Student Success, based in the clinical setting, who works with students experiencing academic or other difficulties and who regularly consults with academic nursing staff to promote student success
• Clinical Instructor access to the nursing program’s online courses to promote understanding of course objectives and harmonious academic and clinical learning 

I believe that the management and coordination of clinical instruction is like leading a symphony orchestra with the goal of melodic results instead of cacophony for the new professional nurse. The BAYADA Education strategies to promote harmonious nursing education include:

• Understanding the “halls of practice,” i.e., the culture of clinical learning environments
• Knowing both academic and clinical players and their roles in “making” great education
• Coordinating and integrating the contributions of the players
• Leading and directing with purpose, passion, and grace
• Providing tangible and consistent support to nursing students that includes continuous student feedback on the model
• Understanding the needs of clinical educators and clinical staff for harmonious communication opportunities and high-quality instruments/resources to support the work of clinical teaching
• Keeping the needs of patients, families, and communities, at the forefront of learning to care 

BAYADA Education and its partners are committed to reconceptualizing and improving nursing education, patient care, and future nurses’ fulfillment in this honored profession.