On Thurs., September 21, Belmont University hosted the launch of a new Web site designed to help nursing students access training more easily than ever before. At the kick-off, the Tennessee Center for Nursing (TCN), the Regional Clinical Placement Partnership of Middle Tennessee (RCPP-MT) and Belmont University introduced the Tennessee Online Clinical Placement Program, a cutting-edge plan to increase access to clinical placements for nursing students by integrating the best ideas from nursing leaders across the state. This user-friendly site, which will be accessed at http://www.centerfornursing.org/, connects schools of nursing with clinical training opportunities at health care agencies in Tennessee, eliminating the burdensome task of individual contacts, paper filing and word-of-mouth.
“The new site enhances our ability to put students in direct care experiences and streamlines what has previously been a complicated process,” Dr. Debra Wollaber, dean of Belmont University’s Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing, past president of TCN and co-facilitator of the program, says. “It also provides a huge cost and time savings for the students and instructors.”
A year ago, nursing faculty seeking clinical placement opportunities for their students would have spent hours, sometimes weeks, identifying and negotiating clinical care training opportunities, she says. Access to open opportunities was isolated, limited and difficult. The process was just as laborious for clinical facilities trying to accommodate placement requests from schools of nursing.
Plus, students had to complete a tedious orientation process prior to the start of each clinical training rotation. “Now students can complete their orientation online quickly and easily. And JCAHO [Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations] only requires it once a year. The entire process has been greatly improved,” Wollaber said.
After seeing software from the Oregon Center for Nursing (OCN) demonstrated at a nationwide meeting last year, TCN’s Executive Director, Ann Duncan, and Wollaber were inspired to combine the best elements from several health centers online into one central, universal site. According to information from TCN, the site not only allows participating schools to view available clinical placement opportunities instantly online, but will also let site managers view the number of students who will be on their unit on any shift.
The Regional Clinical Placement Partnership of Middle TN piloted the online program last spring with three schools of nursing (Aquinas College, Cumberland University and MTSU) and four hospitals (Sumner, St. Thomas, Middle Tennessee Medical Center and Skyline). In the pilot alone, 43 new placement opportunities were identified—a 22 percent increase in just the first few months. That leaves room for 410 more students at these sites, a 28 percent increase in those that can be accommodated.
The partnership was developed in response to the nation’s rising public health care crisis whose statistics forecast a shortage of close to 808,000 qualified registered nurses (RNs) in the US (a 29 percent shortage) by the year 2020, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. “With the projected decline in the number of registered nurses in the US and the growing need for quality nursing care, comes a surge in the demand for facilitating the clinical education process,” Wollaber says. “We’re hoping that our program can serve as a model for others around the country to join the effort.”
The National League for Nursing estimates that over 125,000 qualified applicants to RN programs in the US were turned away by nursing schools last year due to a lack of clinical training sites and a shortage of nursing faculty. “We implemented the program to address the shortage and capacity issues,” Dr. Lois Wagner, Associate Director of Research for TCN, also part of the RCPP-MT, says. “The advantages are profound. This is important to Belmont, to our clinical placement partnerships, and to the entire health care community.”
The RCPP-MT is a partnership between schools of nursing, allied health care facilities, and other entities to develop, implement and streamline student clinical placements.
Belmont University Hosts Launch of Tennessee Center for Nursing Cutting-Edge Web Site
Magruder Publishes Paper
Dr. Robert Magruder, Chair of the Chemistry and Physics department, recently published a paper entitled “Sources of Optical Absorption Between 5.7 and 5.9 eV in Silica Implanted with Si or O” in the Journal of Applied Physics.
Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour Comes to the Belmont Curb Event Center
The Center for Entrepreneurship at Belmont University hosted the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour on September 20 in the Curb Event Center. The tour brings together America’s top young entrepreneurs to share their experiences with their peers at colleges nationwide.
Speakers included young entrepreneurs who have made, earned and sold their companies for millions before the age of 25. Students, entrepreneurs, small business owners and the Middle Tennessee business community participated in keynote speaker sessions, exhibits, panels and networking opportunities.
Pictured above: Michael Simmons, co-founder of Extreme Entrepreneurship Education and author of The Student Success Manifesto. Simmons co-founded his first business, Princeton WebSolutions (PWS), when he was sixteen years old. PWS was later rated the No.1 youth-run web development company in the nation by Youngbiz Magazine. In addition, Simmons has been the winner of three entrepreneur-of-the-year awards from the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Fleet and the National Coalition for Empowering Youth Entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship Course in the News
The Nashville Business Journal reported on a special class being offered by the Center for Entrepreneurship at Belmont University beginning in October entitled “The Growth Challenge: Grow Your Business to the Next Level.” Click here to read the article.
City Paper Reports on Belmont’s New Theatre Project
In his weekly column in the Nashville City Paper, reporter William Williams writes about renovations currently under way at Belmont University-owned Belmont Heights Baptist Church that will include a performing arts center. Click here to read the story.
TBI Director Speaks at Belmont
Mark Gwyn, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, spoke to an audience of Belmont University students, faculty and staff today about new initiatives in drug enforcement policy for the state of Tennessee. Gwyn was the first speaker in Belmont’s Fall 2006 New Century Journalism Speaker Series. Other guests scheduled to appear this fall include:
* Jose Gonzalez: Executive Director – Conexion Americas, Mon., October 2
* Ellen Leifeld: Publisher and President, The Tennessean, Mon., November 6
* Dr. Melvin N. Johnson: President, Tennessee State University, Wed., November 15
Cusic Awarded Professorship by Mike Curb Family Foundation
Dr. Don Cusic was named the “Music City” Professor of Music Industry History at the Curb College at Belmont University at a reception held in his honor today at the university. Cusic has been a faculty member of the Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business since 1994. The Mike Curb Family Foundation sponsors this new professorship. Curb, Dr. Wesley Bulla, dean of the Curb College and Belmont President Dr. Robert Fisher were on hand to honor Cusic at today’s event.
“The music industry is a cyclical business and I have always believed that it is crucial for students to understand the history of the music business in order to better understand the current state of the industry and anticipate what may come in the future,” Curb said. “Don Cusic is Music City’s finest historian and he brings an invaluable opportunity to our students to gain this much needed historical perspective.”
With this new title, Cusic will continue to teach undergraduate and graduate courses and will receive budgetary support for research, writing and professional development activities. He will also host one or two annual conferences with guest speakers, performers and songwriters related to his work. Cusic is a founding member and chair of the Belmont Book Award, given annually to the best book in country music.
“Don Cusic is one of the most prolific writers in the music industry,” Belmont President Dr. Robert Fisher said. “This is a great opportunity for Belmont to honor one of its own and provide the means to continue Cusic’s invaluable work.”
Cusic has authored 14 books, has published over 500 articles and has had songs recorded by such artists as Linda Davis and Chris LeDoux. For a complete biography of Cusic and a downloadable high-resolution photograph, visit www.doncusic.com.
“We have a great history of music in Nashville, going back to the Fisk Jubilee Singers, to WSM and the Grand Ole Opry, WLAC and rhythm and blues, to rock, pop, contemporary Christian, Southern Gospel and, of course, country music,” Cusic said. “Music Row is 50 years old; next year RCA Studio B will celebrate its 50th birthday. The Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business at Belmont is committed to preserving the history of this city’s music and I’m proud to be a part of that.”
Former Student’s EP Release Gains Attention
Former Belmont University student, Claire Gonwa, released a five-song EP titled “Blind Stars and Crazy Diamonds.” Click here to read a review of Gonwa’s release.
Buckner Selected as Item Writer by NCSBN
Dr. Martha Buckner was selected as an Item Writer for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Licensure Examination (NCLEX). The national Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), headquarted in Chicago, is responsible for developing and administering the NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN licensing exams.
Martha Buckner, Ph.D., RN, assistant professor of nursing at Belmont University, was selected by NCSBN to participate on the NCLEX item development panel session held in Chicago August 14 – 17. Buckner was one of 15 nurses from across the nation to be selected for this prestigious assignment. She was nominated by the Tennessee State Board of Nursing on the basis of background and nursing expertise.
All nurses in the United States and its five U.S. territories must take the NCLEX. The licensing exam identifies those candidates who demonstrate minimal competence to practice nursing at the entry level. Passing the NCLEX exam is one of the requirements necessary for attaining a nursing license.
Buckner also recently defended her doctoral dissertation and has completed her doctoral coursework.
Belmont Full-time Undergraduate Enrollment Grows 60 Percent in Six Years
Belmont University announced its fall 2006 enrollment at 4,481 students at the end of the registration period, marking an increase of just over 50 percent since 2000 when the school enrolled 2,976 students. The administration and Board of Trustees set a goal to enroll 4,000 students by 2007; last year, Belmont broke that milestone two years ahead of schedule when 4,319 students enrolled for the fall semester. The Belmont student body is currently comprised of 707 graduate students and 3,774 undergraduates.
“Our sixth consecutive year of record enrollment, higher qualifications of incoming students and jump to the top 10 in the U.S. News & World Report rankings have all given the Belmont community cause for celebration,’ Belmont President Dr. Robert Fisher said. “Providing every possible opportunity to our students is the main focus of Belmont’s talented faculty and staff and our continued successes are validation of all of these efforts.”
Since 2000, Belmont’s full-time undergraduate enrollment has increased by 1,267 students, or 60 percent over six years. The average ACT score for the 2006-07 freshman class is 26, up one point from last year. Nearly 40 percent of new freshmen at Belmont were in the top 10 percent of their graduating class, while 69 percent finished in the top 25 percent.
Belmont University rose five spots in the latest annual ranking of America’s best colleges and universities in U.S. News & World Report and is now ranked 10th in the South in the “Best Universities – Masters” category. The rankings are based on several quality indicators including student retention rates, graduation rates, student-faculty ratios and scores on college entrance exams.
MORE
“State’s colleges see enrollment rise” – The Tennessean, September 11, 2006
“Belmont announces enrollment growth” – Nashville City Paper, September 12, 2006
