Program Committee Report 2019-2020

The Program Committee and the ANCC Accredited Provider Unit has supported the following initiatives on behalf of selected populations within the nursing community over the past fiscal year, some with CLN ANCC accredited contact hours and others without.
Accreditation

• Submitted the application for renewal of our Approved Provider Status to CNA on October 15th, 2019 and were approved for another three years from January 2020 to January 2023.

• Submitted the required annual report of all our programs on February 15, 2020. It was accepted with no need to provide additional evidence and received positive feedback in regard to the following: quality of the report; good schedule of activities that continue to meet the needs of our target audience; great registrations – 200 participants; excellent QI examples; great assessment of the provider unit.

39th Annual RN Student Day (No contact hours awarded)
CLN celebrated 39 years of its sponsorship of the all-day Annual RN Student Day on November 6, 2019 at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville, CT.  This program is a service to students and does not offer contact hours.  The theme for this event was “Transforming Your Dreams to Reality – Getting, Keeping, and Loving the Job” with Judith Herrman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, as keynote speaker.  Over 850 students and faculty, and 42 exhibitors were in attendance.  During the day students interacted with representatives of multiple employing agencies and other vendors.  Peer Recognition Awards are presented to one student from each of the nursing programs in the state.  This award, established by CLN, recognizes one outstanding senior nursing student from each member school or program.  New this year, a free 2-hour Suicide Prevention workshop was presented for faculty attendees and other CLN members during Student Day.  Contact hours were presented by the presenter Robert Havens addressing the QPR Strategy of suicide prevention (Question, Persuade, Refer – three simple steps that gatekeepers can learn to help save a life from suicide).

We extend our grateful thanks to the Sponsors of the 2019 RN Student Day: Charter Oak State College, Employers Reference Source, Inc., Fairfield University Egan School, Quinnipiac University School of Nursing, Sacred Heart University College of Nursing, Sacred Heart University Online Nursing Programs, Southern CT State University, Southern New Hampshire University, SUNY Delhi, University of Bridgeport School of Nursing, and UCONN School of Nursing.

On-the-Ground Workshops (ANCC contact hours for continuing education)
The program committee and the CLN ANCC Accredited Provider Unit offer workshops annually to address the high priority needs of the nursing educator community in the state as identified in a formal needs assessment.   Two programs were conducted in this fiscal year.

The first of these workshops titled “Innovations in Nursing Education” was offered on November 7, 2019 at Naugatuck Valley Community College for 4.0 contact hours, with 32 participants in attendance.
The workshop facilitators and topics included:

• Judy Herrman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, Professor Emerita/Adjunct Professor, University of Delaware  Engaging Millennials and Multi-generations in Active Learning; and How Best to Apply these Strategies in the Classroom & Lessons Learned; Innovation in Education for all Settings
• Tekisha Everette, PhD, Executive Director, Health Equity Solutions     Positioning Education with the LENS of Cultural Humility
• Sheila Molony, PhD, RN, APRN, FGSA, FAAN, Quinnipiac University School of Nursing    Gaming as a Creative Teaching Strategies in Academe
• Melissa Dibble, MSN, RN-BC, CAPA, Clinical Education Specialist, CT Children’s Medical Center  Experiential Creative Teaching Strategies in Practice

The participant responses were overwhelmingly positive for the speakers, regarding both their personal learning outcomes and positive reports of their intent to apply at least one of their new insights gained in the workshop in their educational practice.

As an alternate way of addressing the learning needs of its membership, CLN was a sponsor of the Gustin Conference presented by The Hospital for Special Care held on October 21, 2019 at Central Connecticut State University.  Karen Drenkard, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, Senior Vice President, Chief Clinical and Nursing Officer at Get Well Network, Bethesda, MD was the Keynote speaker addressing the topic “Patient and Family Engagement”.  CLN provided 10 free registrations to CLN members with contact hours provided by The Hospital for Special Care.

A 3-hour workshop titled “Innovative Online Teaching Strategies” with Susan Deane, PhD, RN, CNE, was planned for the spring but was cancelled due to the Covid-19 restrictions.  It will be scheduled at a later date when possible.

CLN Continuing Education Online Courses (ANCC contact hours for continuing education)
The all-virtual, four-module 17-week “RN Refresher Course” was offered 6 times this past fiscal year by the CLN ANCC Approved Provider unit and awards (90) Contact Hours for the successful completion of the four modules. The enrollment in module one over this period was 73, a significant increase from any previous year.  The students come from a variety of states including California, Connecticut, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. They learned of the course through their respective state boards, the local CLN affiliate, word-of-mouth or in an online search. The course continues to be highly rated by the participants and will continue to be offered at least four times a year.  Currently the course faculty are engaged in a continuing effort to review and update the content and format of the course.

RN Re-Entry Boot Camp (NEW Course Offered in May 2020)
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and need to support nurses to re-enter the practice setting, a NEW RN Re-Entry Course was designed and implemented.  This “8-Week RN Re-Entry Boot Camp” is based off of our
successful Flagship 17-Week RN Refresher Course and upon completion by the nurse will award (70) Contact Hours.

This faculty led course will transition fully prepared nurses into the hospital setting in a medical/surgical capacity as the COVID-19 pandemic wains to backfill the staffing crisis due to "nurse fatigue" that is now occurring within our practice settings as well as will be evident over the years to come.
The 100% online Boot Camp supports licensed nurses with previous Acute Care, Long-Term Care, or Community/Home Care experience who have been out of the nursing workforce for LESS than 10 years and have an ACTIVE RN license to re-enter the workforce.

The 3-week “Clinical Faculty Course” was first launched for nurse educators in March 2014 and was offered 3 times this past fiscal year by the CLN ANCC Provider Unit.  Thirty (30) Contact Hours are awarded to the participant based on successful completion of the Course.  There were 45 participants and the Students came from a variety of states including Connecticut, Indiana, Ohio and Massachusetts. They learned of the course through our CT Schools of Nursing, CLN affiliates, word-of-mouth, or an online search. The evaluations continue to be outstanding and nursing faculty have written:

“Wonderful course for clinical instructors to learn and apply techniques to current clinical practice. At first, I was leery of its benefits to me as a practicing clinical instructor with a Master's in Nursing education. I have been pleasantly surprised and grateful for the opportunity to participate in this rich learning environment.”
“This was a very informative course for the novice clinical faculty. Having no experience instructing in the clinical setting, I found the text and supplemental documents valuable in my learning. I now have an increased level of confidence to perform effectively in my future role. I would recommend the course to all graduating MSN students planning on becoming clinical instructors.”

The course will continue to be offered at least 3 - 4 times per year or more frequently as needed.  A follow-up study of the participants and their employers was planned for the spring but was postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Credit Course Offered in Partnership with Charter Oak State College
The online 3-credit “LPN to RN Articulation Bridge Course” that is part of the statewide articulation program, was offered collaboratively by CLN and Charter Oak State College once this year in Spring 2020 with 55 students enrolled from the associate degree programs in the state. The enrollment in the Summer 2020 “fast track” session which started in late May 2020 has 13 students.  These LPN students will be the first cohort to enter the course with the revised content of the Concept-Based Curriculum used by some of the participating schools.[JM1] 

We extend our sincere appreciation to all the members of the Program Committee for their dedicated support of CLN’s programming initiatives.  Their efforts have been a key ingredient in the success of the programming this year, and the planning of initiatives for the years ahead. 

Respectfully submitted,
Program Committee Co-Chairs
Jane E. Murdock, EdD, MSN           Kathy Murphy, EdD, MSN, RN, CHSE

​Program Committee Members:  Beth Boyd, Carol DeGennaro, Ann-Marie Evans, Kim Foito, Mary Joan Forstbauer, Miosotis Garcia, Ginger Goddu, Marlene Hageman, Linda Kapinos, Peggy Mallick, Susan McGinnis, Jane Murdock, Kathy Murphy, Katie Olive, Marcia Proto, Deb Tetreault, Jeanne Thomas, Alicia Zupan, Jillian Zupan.