Beginning this fall, students from The University of Texas at Arlington College of Nursing and Health Innovation will serve as student nurses through an innovative new program in Pasadena, a suburb of Houston.
An agreement signed in January established a partnership between the Pasadena Independent School District, UT Arlington and the UT Health Science Center at Houston for a school-based community health clinical rotation.
"We are pleased to provide our students with the opportunity to both learn and serve in the critical area of public health at this important phase of their young careers," said Anne Bavier, dean of the UT Arlington College of Nursing and Health Innovation. "Health science collaborations of this kind are invaluable for complex problem solving whether in schools and hospitals or governmental agencies and beyond.
" Both undergraduate and graduate programs require the nursing students to obtain clinical hours in a variety of rotations such as community health services, surgical/medical and pediatrics. Pasadena ISD qualifies as a community health services rotation because it is a public school district.
"The rotation program will provide student nurses a look at the disparity within the district that many economically disadvantaged residents face with access to health care and how it impacts the educational process," said April Weisedel, Pasadena ISD nurse specialist.
The nursing students also will be trained as vision/hearing screeners and for some of them this rotation may transition into jobs within the district.
The nursing students in the rotation are in their final semester of college and are fully trained in Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA privacy. They will shadow a licensed nurse at the school where they are placed, to observe best practices and learn about state mandates as they relate to nursing in public schools.
UT Arlington
Highlights, News