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November 25, 2009

Hamilton Medical Center opens Dedicated Education Unit

Submitted by Hamilton Medical Center

The old adage “Experience is the best teacher” will be proved every day in Hamilton’s new Dedicated Education Unit, with experienced nurses serving as clinical teachers.

The Dedicated Education Unit (DEU), a partnership between Hamilton Medical Center and the Dalton State College department of nursing, is the only one of its kind in this region. It was developed as an innovative strategy to create an optimal learning environment by engaging nursing students in meaningful clinical practice. Before embarking on the project, nursing representatives from Hamilton Health and Dalton State College traveled to Memphis, Tenn., to visit the DEU at Methodist University Hospital.

According to Hamilton vice president and chief nursing officer Jan Keys, “This partnership allows us to build upon the strong relationship between Hamilton and Dalton State College to enhance nursing education in Northwest Georgia. It capitalizes on the shared expertise of both clinicians and nursing school faculty to give student nurses practical experience to help them prepare for nursing practice in the real world.”

In the traditional nursing education model one nursing faculty member is responsible for overseeing the clinical experiences of seven to nine nursing students. In the DEU, the clinical experience is a joint effort between DSC and Hamilton nursing staff. Specially trained hospital-based nurses will act as staff clinical teachers, sharing their clinical experience, knowledge and expertise with the students. However, an instructor from the college is always present on the unit when students are there. Each clinical teacher will take three nursing students who will receive personalized attention and instruction on the Westcott Beckler Morrison nursing unit.

“The Dedicated Education Unit model encourages the use of evidence-based teaching/learning strategies and a multidisciplinary patient-centered approach for quality patient care,” says Cordia Starling, dean of the Dalton State School of Nursing. “Studies have shown that a DEU can positively impact patient outcomes with personalized care.”

“With Northwest Georgia being identified by the state as a health care provider shortage area, the DEU’s role in education takes on added importance,” says nursing director Lynda Ridley. “The DEU is expected to increase nursing retention rates and increase clinical opportunities by exposing nursing students to a broad spectrum of nursing care activities.”

So far, reaction has been positive from patients and physicians. Says Ridley, “We expect that the unit will be successful in carrying out its motto, ‘Bridging the gap between nursing theory and the experience of clinical practice.’”

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