Nursing Research and Education

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The mission of the Department of Nursing Research and Education is to provide innovative and creative educational opportunities for nursing staff and the community, which facilitate professional and personal growth and professional competence and advance career goals.

This mission is achieved by the following goals:

Foster nursing research and evidenced based practice within the nursing staff of Shands HealthCare and nursing community by offering educational programs linked to research, and evidence based practice in collaboration with the local University and Colleges.
Facilitate competence in nursing services by ongoing assessment, development of programs, and evaluation of the outcomes of the competence program.
Increase the quality of patient care by educating nurses in their role in the nurse specific quality indicators, national patient safety goals, benchmarking data, and best practice guidelines.
Foster communication within the health care system by offering professional development programs and leadership programs, which teach communication skills.
Provide revenue to maintain and expand educational programs to nursing and health care professionals at the state and national level by offering educational programs on the Internet.

During the period of June 2005 to June 2006, 388 continuing education programs were offered with 4,316 continuing education contact hours awarded. Five hundred ninety-one employees were oriented during that time.

The learning laboratory in the department houses 14 new computers with DVDs. The development of educational offerings utilizing video, audio, PowerPoint capabilities, increase the number and effectiveness of educational programs. The use of the Shands HealthCare Intranet to offer educational opportunities to the staff 24 hours a day has been helpful in reaching the many staff that work on all shifts and in all positions in the nine institutions. Continuing education for the clerical and non-licensed staff is offered on the intranet system as well.

The classroom offerings for American Heart Association courses, ICU skills, continuing education offerings, and leadership and professional development courses has steadily increased in the past five years. The Graduate Nurse Fellowship program, Research Minigrant Fellowship, Staff Nurse Leadership Fellowship, Nursing Leadership Academy, Management Fellowship, and Crucial Conversations have been implemented in response to requests from the staff. Conferences are offered to all healthcare workers in the North Central Florida Region. Recent conferences were presented on the topics of Legal issues, Care of the Obese Patient, and Skin Care.