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MCN NEWS
Massachusetts Center for Nursing's Centralized Clinical Placement Project Database Ready for Use MCN working with the Board of Higher Education has implemented a pilot project that allows health care institutions and schools of nursing to match nursing students with clinical placements online. This process is currently in use and has been very successful. As a result, the pilot project is expanding to include practical nursing clinical placements for current project members. To explore the site click on this link. www.mcnplacement.org Massachusetts Center for Nursing Joins Forces
With UMass Boston's College of Nursing and Health Sciences Press Release, Boston, MA - August 2, 2006 The Massachusetts Center for Nursing and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Boston announce the formation of a partnership designed to strengthen the nursing workforce in Massachusetts. The Center, which is focused on advancing the preparation and retention of the state's nursing workforce, will partner with the College of Nursing and Health Sciences to target the state's nursing workforce and faculty shortages by developing innovative programs to enhance nursing education, nursing workforce data and resources, and provide information on scholarship opportunities. "Joining the college and the Massachusetts Center for Nursing will help us fulfill our goal of working with partners to address the health needs of diverse urban communities through teaching, targeted research, public service and improved health policy," College of Nursing and Health Sciences Dean Greer Glazer said. The College of Nursing and Health Sciences is ranked in the top 9 percent of nearly 700 nursing programs by U.S. News & World Report's 2007 edition of America's Best Graduate Schools. UMass Boston's nursing programs are the most diverse in Massachusetts and contribute significantly to the increasing diversity of the state's nursing workforce. Nearly 35 percent of the university's undergraduate and graduate nursing students are students of color. The non-profit Center was formed in June 2003 to develop a strategic plan to improve recruitment and retention of trained nurses in Massachusetts. "Our mission is to create a multifaceted Center that promotes, advances, and ensures the critical role of professional nursing in improving the quality of healthcare in Massachusetts," said Marie Tobin, President of the Center's Board of Directors. "We're working to ensure a healthy future for the nursing profession in Massachusetts." Using the underlying values of diversity and inclusion, the Center has identified the following goals:
Since 2003, the Center has partnered with the National Youth Leadership Foundation's National Nursing Program to introduce high school students to nursing careers; joined the Commonwealth Corporation and Nursing Career Ladder Initiative to combat the nursing shortage in the state; and partnered with the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education's Nursing Initiative to develop a centralized clinical placement model for more streamlined management of school/hospital clinical placements.
Massachusetts Center for Nursing:"Partnerships for Progress" Chancellor Judith Gill is Keynote Speaker at Massachusetts Center for Nursing
On February 3 the Massachusetts Center for Nursing provided the nursing community and interested stakeholders with an update on its progress and partnerships. Dr. Judith Gill, Chancellor of Higher Education, served as keynote speaker at the Center's presentation, Partnerships for Progress. Speaking to more than 100 attendees, Chancellor Gill provided an overview of the Board of Higher Education's (BHE) Nursing Initiative. Under this Initiative, the BHE, using $500,000 provided by the State legislature and working in partnership with the Massachusetts Hospital Association and other health care stakeholders including the MCN, has funded a series of programs designed to increase the number of nurses and nursing faculty within the Commonwealth. Chancellor Gill, whose mother and sister were nurses, spoke passionately about the central role nurses play within the Massachusetts health care system and warmly about the partnership that is developing between the BHE and the Center. She strongly emphasized her commitment to the Nursing Initiative project. MCN President, Marie Tobin, RN, MPH, provided attendees with an overview of the Center's progress noting that the Center is incorporated as a not-for-profit, designated as a 501 c3 public charity and has a 17-member Board of Directors. The Center has received pro-bono support from Bernard Hodes, Smith and Jones, Bromberg and Sunstein, and has raised nearly $63,000 from the nursing and health care stakeholder communities. The President of the Massachusetts Center for Nursing (MCN), Marie Tobin, RN, MPH presented and demonstrated a computerized Centralized Clinical Placement Program. This program is being used in Oregon by health care institutions and schools of nursing to match nursing students with clinical placements. MCN is working with BHE to implement this system in Massachusetts as a pilot project The Center also developed a partnership with the Commonwealth Corporation through the Nursing Career Ladder Initiative (NUCLI) NUCLI was a $ 2.9 million department of labor nursing workforce development grant. NUCLI began in May of 2002 and concluded in September of 2005. Through this partnership, the Center received $40,000 to re-design and expand its website and served on the NUCLI Statewide Advisory Committee. This Committee was a public-private partnership of 33 representatives from the health-care industry, unions, professional associations, public policy departments, public education, and local workforce development Boards. It worked to develop and oversee the statewide and regional NUCLI programs. The NUCLI Statewide Advisory Committee remains committed to working on programs that will alleviate the nursing faculty shortage and increase the diversity within nursing. In its partnership with the National Youth Leadership Forum (NYLF), a company that conducts career oriented experiential programs for high school students, the Center worked to connect NYLF staff to the nursing community. In 2004 NYLF brought 440 potential nursing students to Massachusetts and in 2005 they brought 540. NYLF provided the Center with $10,000 in supporting funds. The concluding portion was an Internet demonstration, tour and discussion of the Oregon Centralized Clinical Placement web site, www.ocnplacement.org . This software program was developed in Oregon and for use by its health care institutions and schools of nursing to match nursing students with clinical placements. MCN is working with BHE to implement this system in Massachusetts as a pilot project. The Center offers a special thank you to Judith Mitiguy and Nursing Spectrum for their generous support of this program. Through their generosity, we were able to provide the entire program and refreshments with out charge. The Center also thanks Gateway for use of the room and audio-visual equipment with out charge. 
Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing Launches its Electronic Newsletter beginning January 2006. It will be a tool for outreach to and communication with licensed nurses and the public. The electronic Board newsletter will be published quarterly and will contain essential information about Board related activities. Look for it and all other Board information and services at www.mass.gov/dph/boards/rn. Click on the Board's link to Newsletters for the most up to date version.
The Massachusetts Center for Nursing is working to shape a healthy future for the profession of nursing and for the people of Massachusetts through collaboration and innovation. Here are some of the projects and initiatives that we are working on.
Board of Higher Education (BHE) Nursing Initiative Centralized Clinical Placement (CCP) "The Centralized Approach to Clinical Placements Massachusetts’ nursing programs and health care facilities are not alone in their struggles with the clinical placement experience. States across the country are cognizant of the need to restructure the clinical placement process and, where possible, expand the number of clinical placement opportunities available. One concept that is being developed is that of regionalized, centralized clinical placement (CCP) processes....." Click here to see entire report, Centralized Clinical Placement (CCP)
Massachusetts Center for Nursing Selected to Participate in smith&jones CreateAThon 2005
The Massachusetts Center for Nursing has been selected to receive pro bono marketing services from smith&jones, a full-service advertising agency, as part of the eighth annual CreateAThon 2005 campaign scheduled for September 15, 2005. CreateAThon 2005 is a 24-hour creative blitz during which smith&jones staffers provide marketing and creative services to local non-profit organizations on a pro-bono basis. smith&jones will prepare an informational brochure for the Center. The Massachusetts Center for Nursing, a nursing workforce development center dedicated to creating a multifaceted Center that is designed to promote, advance and ensure the critical and integral role of professional nursing in improving the quality of healthcare in Massachusetts, is thrilled to have been selected and looks forward to working with smith&jones on this important project. The Center sincerely thanks the smith&jones staff for their willingness to share their time and creative talents! smith&jones, (www.smithnjones.com) located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is a full-service advertising agency known for its on-target strategies, compelling creative work, and integrated marketing efforts. Some of smith&jones’ clients are Dare Foods, All Star Incentive Marketing, UMass Medical School, New England Dairy Promotion Board, and WICN 90.5 FM. smith&jones’ services include marketing research, strategic planning, corporate identity, design, copy writing, and production of print, broadcast, and web media.
Legislative and Public Policy Development 5 Point Plan for Real Reform of the Massachusetts Health Care System In November 2004, Senator Richard Moore, Senate Health Care Committee Chairperson for the past six years, introduced his 5 Point Plan for Real Reform of the Massachusetts Health Care System. Point 3 of the Plan seeks to promote patient safety and support the profession of nursing. The Plan, with the establishment of the Clara Barton Nursing Excellence Program, would appropriate $30 million to fund several different kinds of mitigation strategies aimed at the nursing shortage. The proposed programs include scholarships for high caliber students who choose nursing as a career, a student loan repayment program, a nursing faculty development program, mentoring programs for novice nurses and a grant program for higher education and health care institutions that form partnerships to promote recruitment and retention of nurses. The Plan also calls for improved collection and availability of nursing workforce data. Citing the collaborative nature of the Massachusetts Center for Nursing, it specifically identifies the Center as the repository for all nursing workforce data collected in the Commonwealth. An Act to Support the Nursing Profession and Promote Safe Patient Care Senator Richard Moore, (Uxbridge) is Chairman of the Joint Committee on Health Care for the Massachusetts Legislature. Read his Boston Globe Op-Ed piece that details his proposal to address the nursing shortage and the important role the Massachusetts Center for Nursing will play in that effort. Read more about Senator Moore's Senate Bill 1260.
Nursing Retention and Recruitment Second National Youth Leadership Nursing Forum held in Massachusetts The Massachusetts Center for Nursing collaborated with the National Youth Leadership Forum (NYLF) to bring the 2005 National Youth Leadership Forum in Nursing to Massachusetts. The NYLF Nursing Forum, attracted students from across the country. Nearly 400 participants attended a series of seminars that introduced and explored the world of nursing, visited several Massachusetts health care facilities, shadowed nurses and practiced nursing skills. To prepare for the forum, The Massachusetts Center for Nursing in cooperation with the National Youth Leadership Forum (NYLF), hosted a meeting of Nurse Executives and Deans of baccalaureate nursing programs. This program provides the opportunity for Massachusetts collegiate nursing programs and health care facilities throughout Massachusetts to showcase nursing to high school students from throughout the United States. NYLF is a national organization whose mission is to "bring various professions to life, empowering outstanding young people with the confidence to make well-informed career choices."
Massachusetts Nursing Faculty Shortage In addition to a shortage of nurses, there is a serious shortage of nursing faculty for Massachusetts Schools of Nursing. Many states are facing a nursing faculty shortage. MCN is working with the Commonwealth Corporation to develop statewide programs to increase the number of nursing faculty. The Center has also established a Nursing Faculty Task Force to consider additional specific strategies the Center can take to combat the nursing faculty shortage. The following reports, But Who Will Teach Them, and The Nursing Faculty Shortage: A Public Health Crisis, describe reasons for the nursing faculty shortage and potential solutions. |
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