Fayetteville State University’s Nursing School was recently named the Student Choice Award’s pick for the Top Nursing School in North Carolina. A well-deserved recognition, FSU’s Nursing School recently launched a Nursing Clinical Instructor Partnership (CIP) Project with NC Area Health Education Centers (NC AHEC) and Cape Fear Valley Health System.

Focused on increasing the number of nursing faculty through building partnerships between academic nursing programs and clinical practice organizations, the Nursing Clinical Instructor Partnership Project prepares qualified Registered Nurses (RNs) to serve as clinical nursing instructors without leaving the patient bedside at their hospital or other practice organization.

The innovative grant-funded partnership allows FSU nursing students to train in a clinical setting alongside Cape Fear Valley Health nurses. This training program gives top FSU nursing students the benefit of learning from an experienced, practicing clinical nurse in a small group setting. 

For the first cohort, six Level II nursing students were matched with two Clinical Instructor Partners (CIPs), at a 3-1 student to instructor ratio. Each student was assigned one of the CIPs patients, and they worked under the supervision of the experienced nurse to complete patient care. The small group setting allowed the students to receive frequent attention and opportunities to practice their clinical skills, such as patient assessment, patient education, dressing changes, and more. 

Both the students and nursing instructors in the first cohort of the Nursing Clinical Instructor Partnership Project gave the program positive feedback from both the nursing students and the CIPs who participated. Serving as a CIP provides experienced nurses with several benefits, including growing into a leadership role without leaving patient care and supplementary pay. To be eligible to serve as a CIP, nurses must have a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a minimum of two years clinical experience.

Dr. Stephanie Hodges and Dr. Christy Swinson, both professors in the School of Nursing at FSU, are proud of the results of the program that they helped shepherd into being, and they have high hopes for its future potential. The leaders of the program see this as an innovative solution to increase the capacity and skill of the nursing workforce. They also hope to see the Clinical Instructor Partnership training model duplicated in other settings, such as outpatient clinics and in-home care, to help meet health care workforce needs.

FSU’s and Cape Fear Valley Health’s clinical training program is approved by the NC Board of Nursing to meet the 45-hour teaching and learning requirement for new faculty. It is taught through a combination of online modules, live webinars, and the nurse shadowing experience alongside a cohort of peers.

The Nursing Clinical Instructor Partner Program is a collaborative partnership, with funding support provided by NC AHEC. If you would like to find out more about this program, contact Katie Fitzpatrick, DNP, RN, Project Manager, NC AHEC CIP, at Kathryn.fitzpatrick@atriumhealth.org.