VA NURSING ACADEMY: ENHANCING ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIPS
VA San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS) and
San Diego State University (SDSU) School of Nursing Partnership

Carole Hair, PhD, APRN, BC VASDHS Program Director and
Catherine Todero, PhD, RN SDSU Program Director

VA Nursing Academy program participation will further strengthen the existing relationship between VA San Diego Healthcare System and the School of Nursing at San Diego State University. VA Nursing Academy funding will support increasing the number of nursing students enrolled at SDSU and increase the number of newly graduated nurses recruited for employment at VASDHS.

Program Outcomes:

• Admit twenty additional students in the SDSU baccalaureate program by expanding teaching faculty and clinical rotations at VASDHS.
• Recruitment and retention of 15 new graduate nurses into the VA system through the implementation of a comprehensive baccalaureate student residency program.
• Transformation of the undergraduate educational process by offering
  1. inter-professional learning opportunities;
  2. virtual/simulation learning for clinical application of nursing content;
  3. enhanced advance placement options for learners with military or previous nursing experiences; and
  4. evidence-based practice opportunities for students and VA staff
• Implementation of a faculty development program by school of nursing for VA-based faculty to develop education knowledge, educator roles, and competencies.

Educational Opportunities:

Students: The VA Nursing Academy student nurse residency program experiences will be offered in addition to clinical experiences that SDSU nursing students currently have at VASDHS. Students selected for this program will have enhanced clinical experiences during the upper division portion of their nursing education. The program will include:

• enhanced student externships emphasizing evidence-based nursing practice
• critical thinking opportunities through the use of simulated learning experiences
• inter-professional clinical experiences in areas such as mental health, women's health, geriatrics, home telehealth, and spinal cord injury based on the student's areas of interest.

VA-based faculty: A solid working knowledge of valid evaluation techniques and an ability to create curricula that are educationally sound are vital faculty skills. VA staff with a desire to teach may complete three graduate level courses developed to prepare them for the clinical educator role.