Two faculty members from the nursing program at Chattanooga State Community College have been awarded grant funding by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The funding will allow associate professor Kathy Rose M.S.N., and assistant professor Charlotte Webb M.S.N., FNPBC to participate in an education consortium that will lay the foundation for inclusion of new evidence-based practices in student learning outcomes.

“Nursing faculty members who complete this training will join an elite group of nurse educators across the nation,” said Jim Catanzaro, Ph.D., president of Chattanooga State. “They will be raising the bar for nursing students to provide high quality and safe patient care in a health care environment that demands best practices for patient safety.”

The special training program is designed to equip selected faculty with the latest information and strategies for advancing quality and safety content in nursing curriculum. Innovative techniques for teaching this content to other faculty will lead to development, implementation and evaluation of evidence-based curricular changes for nursing students.

“Because this concept is vital to our program it is necessary to assist the faculty in finding practical ways of incorporating research based clinical evidence into the associate degree curriculum,” said Cynthia Swafford, R.N., Ed.D., director of the nursing program. “Our ultimate goal is to produce graduates who base their practice on standards and evidence.”

The training program is presented by Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN), a nursing organization that is a leader in the nursing profession and healthcare reform. For more information about the nursing program at Chattanooga State Community College, call 423.493.8740 or online at www.chattanoogastate.edu.