February 3, 2004
BY VALERIE ORLEANS

Cal State Fullerton’s Nursing Department is advancing nursing education thanks to nearly $2 million in local and federal grants.

A $1.6 million Federal Department of Health and Human Services grant will be used to fund nursing education, practice and retention. A $385,000 award from the Orange County Children and Families’ Commission will support development of a new credential and master’s program in school nursing. Christine Latham, professor of nursing, was the recipient of both grants.

Nurse Education, Practice and Retention
Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach and UCI Medical Center in Orange are working with the university to develop mentoring intervention programs that will augment their ability to mentor registered nurses and implement strategies to increase nurse/patient satisfaction.

“We are looking at evidence-based or best practice models,” Latham explained. “By that, I mean we are looking at specific areas, such as the number of patient falls or the number of patients who need to be restrained.

“This will provide us with a benchmark. We will then initiate the mentoring program and see if this affects those areas of patient care.”

In order to identify potential mentors, Latham and her team conducted socio-analysis at the hospitals. Socio-analysis is a method that can be used to identify informal leaders – those nurses who may not be managers but have influence with other nurses based on experience, expertise or the way they deal with problems.

“The focus is to develop mentoring teams of staff nurses – none of whom will have direct evaluation responsibilities for those they are mentoring – to develop camaraderie and assist others with professional development and problem-solving,” said Latham.

“The program we are developing has the potential to make a tremendous impact on satisfaction within the nursing industry,” said Latham. “When nurses feel empowered to deal with difficult situations or talk with administrators about potential problems, it’s to everyone’s advantage.

“We have many inquiries from other hospitals wanting to know if we can develop similar programs for them,” she said. “That indicates that this is a program that’s perceived to provide value to nurses and patients.”

New Credential and Master’s Program in School Nursing
“The credentialing of school nurses will become part of a master’s of science concentration in nursing,” said Latham. “We are targeting this concentration to begin this fall.

“Our goals are to develop programs that meet the needs of today’s school nurses. This can be anything from dealing with behavioral and learning disabilities, to working with children with chronic health problems such as asthma, and to provide a specialized authorization for health credential that allows nurses to teach classes to children on developing healthy lifestyles.

“Today, we’re seeing rising rates of obesity among school children, and if nurses can reach out to elementary-age children, perhaps they can assist in helping children understand the value of exercise and proper nutrition.”

Program planning is underway, based on interviews with 33 school nurses in 14 different school districts.

“We wanted input from nurses ‘out in the field’ about what programs they think would most benefit school nurses,” said Latham. “We’re looking at it from an advanced practice focus. By making the school develop a futuristic program that will benefit our students and ultimately, the schools where they practice.”

“The special authorization for the health teaching credential will be a big boon to students,” said Mary A. Kelly, who will direct the school nurse concentration. “Right now, you have football coaches and others teaching nutrition and health. Some do a great job, but others don’t have the background.

“Having the school nurse provide this education will help ensure that consistent and accurate information is provided. It’s also a good way for students to get to know the nurses at their school. Sometimes they only see them when they’re ill.”
The program can accept 20 students, and 70 have already indicated an interest in applying.

“I think one of the reasons that our program is so appealing is that school nurses are often out on their own,” said Kelly. “They are often the only healthcare professional on a school campus. The program not only educates them for this, but they also develop networks with other school nurses that they can turn to with questions or concerns.”

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