Academic-practice partnership improves nurse readiness

An academic-practice partnership between the University of South Carolina School of Nursing and Prisma Health in Greenville is creating a pipeline of highly skilled new graduate nurses. In the April issue of the Journal of Nursing Administration, lead author and AONL member Carolyn Swinton, DNP, RN, CEO at Reveille Executive Coaching and Consulting Services, Columbia, S.C., describes the Nursing Student Pipeline program. The health system hired 56 nursing students to participate in the pilot program, where they performed select nursing tasks under the direct supervision of a nurse preceptor. Twenty-four students who completed the program are current employees of Prisma Health. Students, preceptors and nurse managers say the program is beneficial, with students saying participating made them more prepared for practice upon graduation.