Outcomes of Student Engagement in Community-Directed Health Initiatives

Purpose: Western Washington University (WWU) is a comprehensive, regional, and public university located in Bellingham, Washington that welcomed its first cohort of RN-to-BSN students the fall of 2013. The purpose of this presentation is to highlight RN-to-BSN innovations focusing on regionally-based academic-community partnerships.

Background: As one of three new Washington State RN-to-BSN programs partially supported through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded initiative to promote academic progression in nursing (APIN), this program adds to the statewide strategy to meet the IOM Report on the Future of Nursing (2010) goal of an 80% BSN prepared workforce by 2020. With over three years of collaborative planning, this new program offers a commitment to fostering innovative and interdisciplinary academic-community partnerships in the North Puget Sound region of the state. 

Process: The region being served by this new program, with a less than 46% BSN prepared workforce, has been advocating for greater access to BSN education for over 10 years.  A recent needs assessment completed with the largest regional healthcare employer indicated that only 37% of their nursing staff is baccalaureate prepared. Grounded in long-standing community interest, the WWU program is the result of academic-community collaboration with three regional community/technical college nursing programs, community practice partners, and an interdisciplinary cadre of committed university faculty and staff.

Outcomes: Three distinct innovations of this program include:

1. Curriculum development coordinated by a nursing education consultant from another public university along with an ad hoc interdisciplinary curriculum workgroup reflective of academic-practice partnerships in the state.
2. Ongoing community-based academic-practice partnerships, including the community-driven and funded initiative to address palliative care and end-of-life concerns in the region.
3. Commitment to academically rigorous and clinically relevant RN-to-BSN practice experiences that enhance the practice culture in the region. 

Conclusions: The IOM Report on the Future of Nursing (2010) recommends that 80% of the RN workforce hold a BSN or higher by 2020. The Washington State Master Plan for Nursing Education supported a similar recommendation (2008) calling for BSN preparation within 10 years of initial licensure beginning in 2020. As interest in RN-to-BSN education heightens and new programs emerge, lessons learned from innovative programs such as the one at Western Washington University should be shared and considered for adaptation by other communities committed to increased access to high-quality, seamless academic progression for working nurses.