Desiree Hensel, Cheryl L. Crisp, and Janet S. Fulton, School of Nursing
Principal Investigator: Desiree Hensel, Assistant Professor and Pediatric CNS Program Coordinator, Department of Family Health, School of Nursing
Co-principal Investigator: Cheryl L. Crisp, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing IUPUC, and Janet S. Fulton, Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing IUPUI
Project Title: Creating a Distance Accessible Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist Graduate Program
Funding Level: $15,000
Abstract:
Responding to a state-wide need for more advanced practice nurses to address children’s health in Indiana, the School of Nursing is re-opening the Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) graduate nursing major. The purpose of this project is to update the previous 42 credit hour graduate curriculum to 1. Create a pediatric CNS curriculum that aligns with educational standards preparing graduates to provide evidence-based, cost-effective, innovative nursing interventions to infants, children and adolescents, 2. Deliver curriculum using distance teaching/learning principles with state-of-the art technology for delivery to nurses in Indiana, and 3. Develop a cadre of pediatric CNS clinical preceptors for providing on-site clinical supervision in the development of CNS practice competencies. Modeled after the successful Learn Where You Live Adult CNS program, this project will create a pediatric CNS program that supports advanced practice nursing education throughout Indiana. Students will complete course and clinical requirements while remaining in their home communities. Evidence demonstrates that students in rural areas will seek graduate education if barriers such as travel time are removed. These graduates tend to live and work in their home communities after graduation, thus increasing the number of advanced practice nurses in Indiana. Graduates will be eligible for the American Nurses Credentialing Center Pediatric CNS certification. The project will roll out over a two-year period; a first cohort of 8 students is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2013. Strategies to evaluate the program structure, processes, and outcomes will be identified and disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and presentations.
