Collaboration with Local Hospitals on Co-Clinical Nursing Instructor Program Creating Huge Impact in the Region’s Nursing Workforce

Choosing to enter the nursing profession is as much a calling as it is a choice. Bringing the perfect combination of empathy, compassion, scientific curiosity and a desire to help all people is what makes nurses one of the most important careers in the world. Unfortunately, this unique combination is at a critical shortage in the region and throughout the nation. Factors like retirement and burnout from COVID-19 have contributed to this challenge, but a key barrier is the lack of experienced clinical instructors to train the next generation of nurses.

To address this challenge, UW-Green Bay expanded their approach to nursing instruction. In 2021, the university received a Workforce Innovation Grant – in collaboration with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation – to pilot a co-clinical instructor program at local hospitals. They asked highly skilled, graduate-degree trained nurses to consider educating future nurses in addition to their hospital or clinic shifts. It’s no surprise that many eagerly embraced the opportunity.

Aurora Baycare Medical Center (ABMC) Nursing Manager April Garza-Leon, ‘14, directs this unique program at the hospital and knows exactly how the benefits of this partnership empower future nurses. As an undergraduate nursing student at UW-Green Bay, she experienced first-hand the impact of an empowering leader. “I believe there’s so much power in our youth and so much that we can learn from them,” said Garza-Leon. “I specifically work to empower our nursing students, and in turn I share why it’s important to invest in this program with leaders here at Aurora Baycare Medical Center.” The program has been a success. Through an ideal blend of hands-on learning and the most up-to-date nursing knowledge, the program bridges the gap of qualified clinical instructors and the needs of the nursing program in a beneficial and sustainable way.

Garza-Leon

“We knew that there was going to be a need for nursing instructors, and so with this grant, it allowed us to reach out to our current teammates at our hospitals, our expert nurses who are also nurse educators [for the hospital], and offer them an opportunity to both work within their role at the hospital and also carve out time as a clinical instructor for UW-Green Bay,” said Garza-Leon. It’s a win-win, giving current nurse educators the opportunity to share knowledge, information, and hands-on experience in real-time with future nurses while advocating the advancement of nursing. This collaborative approach prepares nursing students for a job caring for the most vulnerable, an essential need for every community, providing help to those who need it and equipped with examples from their day-to-day experiences.

ABMC is already seeing the benefits of the program. “We are seeing from the UW-Green Bay clinicals who have a direct connection with us and with our organization, reach out to us seeking opportunities and wanting to be a part of the Aurora Baycare Medical Center,” said Garza-Leon. In essence, ABMC can have a big impact on training their future workforce.

Initial results from the program are positive. According to research from Jenna Liphart Rhoads, Ph.D., RN, CNE, UW-Green Bay Nursing & Health Studies assistant professor, often the expert nurse instructor works on the unit where the student clinical occurs and/or is experienced in the specialty area. “This approach can be positive for both increasing the efficacy of the nursing faculty workforce and recognizing staff nurses for their clinical expertise and fostering professional development,” wrote Liphart Rhoads. Additionally, her research found that nursing instructors referred to this role as a “stimulating break” from a nurse’s typical duties. The exposure students receive encourages them to continue the path, stay in the region, and navigate their future career with confidence.

This program directly impacts the regional nursing workforce need by providing additional opportunities for students to enter the profession. This partnership is critical in addressing the workforce demands and nursing shortage in the region. “We want to stand together as hospital organizations with the college to ensure that our healthcare system is meeting the growing demands of community needs and nursing services. We know that people continue to get sick, and so it’s crucial that partnerships like this address the nursing shortage in general,” said Garza-Leon.

Co-clinical instructors are also fully enjoying the opportunity to teach. In Liphart Rhoads’ research, she found nursing instructors who were working with nursing students provided a great opportunity to see firsthand what students are learning in clinical settings and gain a greater understanding of the knowledge level of new nurse graduates. This unique insight has allowed hospitals to alter the nurse residency program to better fit the needs of new nurse graduates entering the nursing field for the first time.  The nurse educator now has the unique opportunity to view hospital policies and processes through the lens of a student. Students were able to provide their interpretations and misunderstandings of existing policies, which allowed the professional development team to revise these to ensure clear understanding for graduate nurses and staff alike.

Additionally, the nurse educator found the professional benefits of the program to be advantageous to the improvement of the new graduate nurse program at the healthcare partner, and that both the roles of co-clinical instructor and staff educator directly supported each other.

The collaboration between UW-Green Bay and Aurora Baycare Medical Center has created a significant impact on the region’s nursing workforce. By leveraging the expertise of current nurses as clinical instructors, the program has successfully addressed the shortage of qualified nursing educators and strengthened the relationship between educational institutions and healthcare providers. This innovative approach not only benefits the students, and the institutions involved but also ensures that the community receives high-quality nursing care from well-prepared professionals. According to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Wisconsin is projected to face a deficit of between 12,000 and 19,000 nurses by 2040. This program is a crucial step in mitigating this shortage, particularly in Northeast Wisconsin, by fostering a sustainable pipeline of skilled nursing professionals.