Members of USD Nursing Department named QSEN facilitators
Linda Benedict, RN, associate professor and director of the nursing department’s Sioux Falls campus, Robin Brown, RN, assistant professor and director of the Watertown USD Nursing campus, and Lisa Feller, RN, associate professor and director of the nursing department’s Pierre campus, were nominated to serve as facilitators by the QSEN Steering Committee. As facilitators for QSEN, Benedict, Brown and Feller will work closely with the Steering Committee to generate ideas for extracurricular materials and teaching strategies as well as develop one- and two-day workshops for the QSEN Speaker’s Bureau. They will also speak, if asked, at national forums and regional faculty development conferences.
"This is an outstanding opportunity for Lisa, Robin and me to represent USD nursing," noted Benedict, interim chair of the USD Nursing Department and QSEN project director at The U, "and to keep our program on the cutting edge of this exciting project."
The Department of Nursing, part of the School of Health Sciences at USD, is one of 15 nursing programs serving as a QSEN pilot school during phase II of the nationwide project. Phase II was funded by a $1.09 million grant from the Robert Johnson Wood Foundation in 2007. The goal of the QSEN project is to increase commitment to Institute of Medicine quality and safety competencies among pre-licensure nursing programs. Pilot schools are supported in their curricular change efforts in six broad areas, including patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and safety and informatics. Pilot schools are required to produce a curriculum that integrates those six domains; develop and evaluate teaching strategies for classroom, clinical and simulation labs; and document challenges met during the processes of curricular change.
More information about the nursing program at USD is available at http://www.usd.edu/med/nursing/.
A photograph of Benedict is available for download at www.usd.edu/urelations/images/Linda_Benedict.jpg. A photo of Brown is available for download at www.usd.edu/urelations/images/Robin_Brown.JPG. To download a photograph of Feller, please go to www.usd.edu/urelations/images/Lisa_Feller.jpg.