Our immediate goals are to:

1. Develop interdisciplinary programs of collaborative research that stimulate basic cancer research at UMB and health disparities research at both UMB and DF/HCC
2. Increase cancer-focused training opportunities for minority students, post-doctoral fellows and nursing PhD students
3. Increase community outreach, cancer education, and dissemination of evidence-based programs
4. Develop shared mechanisms for minority faculty recruitment and career development

Our pilot research projects include a focus on population science (e.g. intervention study on obesity and cancer among African-American women), and basic science (e.g. study of cell specific mRNA splicing and cancer); our pilot training programs include a focus on training (fast-track to PhD program for minority nursing students and training opportunities for minority students in research laboratories), and an outreach program (e.g. program to improve clinical trials education in underserved communities through patient navigators and community health workers). The progress of these initial pilot projects/programs, as well as the development of future collaborative research, training, and outreach initiatives, will be carefully monitored by the Planning and Evaluation Core, supervised by a diverse and highly committed Internal Advisory Board and external Program Steering Committee. Scientific and administrative leadership of the Partnership will be provided by Drs. Adán Colón-Carmona (UMB) and Karen Emmons (DF/HCC), who will oversee the Administrative Core, which is composed of accomplished scientists, high-level administrators, and dedicated staff from both UMB and DF/HCC. The Partnership has strong and enthusiastic personal and institutional support from the Vice Chancellor and Provost at UMB and the Director of the DF/HCC.

 

UMB-DF/HCC Comprehensive Cancer Partnership Program's Funded Projects

 

 

The CLC, designed for nursing students entering their First Semester Junior Year consists of:

• Enrichment experiences at Partners HealthCare Institutions that include the two founding members: Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as, Faulkner Hospital, McLean Hospital, Newton Wellesley Hospital, North Shore Medical Center, Partners Home Care, Shaughnessy Kaplan Rehabilitation Hospital and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
• Tuition, fees and monthly stipends paid during the regular academic year as well as assistance in paying for the cost of a NCLEX review course
• Clinical rotations at Partners HealthCare Institutions and employment at a Partners HealthCare agency upon successful CLC program completion, graduation, and attainment of a Massachusetts Registered Nurse license
• One-on-One professional mentoring from experienced nurses throughout the Partners HealthCare System
• Group discussions/journaling

View the slide show to learn more about the CLC and how it is changing nursing.

 

 

 

 

Dedicated Education Units (DEUs) represent an innovative model of clinical education whereby patient care units are transformed into optimal learning/teaching environments through the collaborative efforts of staff nurses, unit leadership, CNHS students, faculty, and nursing administration. The underlying beliefs include the vital role played by staff nurses in the knowledge, skills, and values development of nursing students. Staff nurses become the students’ clinical instructors and CNHS faculty serve as faculty mentors to the involved staff nurses. The focus of the DEUs has also included the full integration of evidence based practice, patient-centered care, quality improvement, safety, teamwork and collaboration, and informatics which represent shared quality and safety competencies for both nursing education and practice.

 

DEUs are also a creative response to the education-practice gap, the nurse faculty and workforce shortages, and transition to practice issues shared by employers and schools alike. The CNHS-Partners Healthcare model specifically responds to the need to expand teaching capacity and enrollment at the only urban, public, urban university in Boston, to address the shortage of underrepresented nurses in professional nursing positions, and to make progress in eliminating healthcare disparities.

 

The CNHS DEU Team in the DEU Partnership includes JoAnn Mulready-Shick, EdD, RN, CNE, Undergraduate Nursing Program Director, and Clinical Faculty Coordinators Kathleen Kafel, MS, RN and Lisa Caravaggio, MS, RN, with full administrative support from Dean Greer Glazer. The college recognizes the faculty coordinators’ leadership, particularly in guiding DEU students’ presentations, presented to BWH and MGH staffs each semester. Last year’s presentations focused on Alternatives to Restraints and Pressure Ulcer Prevention Post-Surgery.