Leading through collaboration: A regional academic/service partnership that works

This article describes a regional education/service partnership that has thrived for > 20 years. The collaboration takes place between a tertiary medical center and a university-based school of nursing located in a rural underserved area. Several critical issues have been creatively addressed by the partners including: the shortage of new nurses and nurse educators; the shortage of advanced practice nurses; the need to foster competence in new employees, particularly new graduates; and the advancement of clinical nursing research.

Throughout history, academic/service partnerships have been discussed and developed. Cronenwett suggests that while the models have changed and evolved, there is a long-term history of collaborative partnerships in nursing.¹ Some of the most successful partnerships described in the literature have occurred when hospitals and schools of nursing share their governance structure.² However, in today’s world, collaboration is based on a pressing need to address complex issues even when schools of nursing and clinical agencies have different governing structures.

O’Neil suggests that the building blocks of an effective partnership include a coherent institutional strategy, potential partners that bring value and assets to the partnership, mutually beneficial goals, and accountability to each other.³ Time and timing, tact, talent, and trust are other essentials of a productive partnership.⁴

This article describes a collaborative model in which a university-based school of nursing has collaborated with a tertiary care hospital. The institutions have separate governing structures and each has its own personnel policies, job descriptions, and benefits. The collaboration takes place in a rural area of the state characterized by poverty and high morbidity and mortality. There is one hospital and one baccalaureate program in the region. There are also several associate degree programs in nursing (ADN) and these programs have been involved in many of the collaborative initiatives. Several critical issues have been addressed by the partners including: the shortage of new nurses and nurse educators, the shortage of advanced practice nurses, the need to foster competence in new employees (particularly new graduates), and the advancement of clinical nursing research.