Harris College receives Innovations in Professional Nursing Award

Fort Worth, TX

10/18/2011

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) recently selected TCU’s Harris College of Nursing as the recipient for the AACN Innovations in Professional Nursing Award for Private Schools without an Academic Health Center. The College will receive the award Oct. 24 at the Fall Semiannual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Suzy Lockwood, professor and director of TCU’s Center for Oncology Education & Research, and Dr. Paulette Burns, professor and dean of Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences and Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow, submitted a report on the “Baccalaureate Nursing Emphasis in Oncology Program” that highlighted the undergraduate educational outcomes of TCU’s Center for Oncology Education and Research and its partnership with UT Southwestern Medical Center. The program includes Aspects of Oncology Care, Oncology Residency and an Oncology Internship Program along with initiatives across the curriculum to promote awareness and understanding of oncology nursing care.

There is a dramatic need for oncology-specialized nurses to care for the growing population of people diagnosed and living with cancer, as well as for caregivers of cancer survivors. The Baccalaureate Nursing Emphasis in Oncology (BNEO) is an innovative strategy to promote interest and skill development in oncology nursing among students seeking a Bachelor of Science in nursing.

Nursing students frequently see cancer as a fatal condition and believe that oncology nursing lacks the complexity or excitement found in other clinical settings. By providing focused clinical experiences in different oncology settings and oncology-specific curricula, the BNEO has achieved its major aim to increase the number of baccalaureate nursing graduates who select a career in oncology nursing. In addition, the innovative program can be implemented and sustained in other programs of nursing.

Harris College’s academic partnership with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) provides learning opportunities for its students in a National Cancer Institute (NCI) designated center. The BNEO program has been sustained since January 2008 and has met outcomes for student participation, faculty collaboration and awareness and fostering community partnerships. The program has increased enrollment from 10 in the first year to 30 this past year; the number of graduates being employed in an oncology setting has consistently increased with each cohort.

Dr. Pamela Frable, associate professor, associate dean and director of nursing, said, “We are proud that the innovative work championed by Dr. Lockwood to promote oncology nursing education at the baccalaureate level has earned this national recognition. The oncology nursing education initiative enables TCU nursing students to explore oncology nursing as a career and to be ready to provide evidence-based care for patients and families living with cancer. We are fortunate at TCU to have multiple nursing faculty members who contribute to this initiative as well as the opportunity to collaborate with community partners through the Center for Oncology Education and Research.”