News from the Health and Business Divisions -February 2011

Nursing

The state advisory board for “The Clinical Coordination Project” (TCCP), which brings healthcare providers together with educational institutions to collaborate on optimizing clinical experiences for students in nursing and other health related fields, has selected Cathy Sandmann, RN, to represent community colleges on the state advisory board. Initially the group was formed to facilitate the use of Student Max - a web based database for tracking clinical placements for nursing students, but has grown to include forums to bring educators and healthcare providers together to discuss a variety of topics to improve student clinical learning experiences throughout Minnesota.

Nursing faculty Elizabeth Stuckey and Cathy Sandmann made application and were selected to participate in the Quality and Safety Education in Nursing (QSEN) Education Consortium Institute in September, 2010 in Minneapolis. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing is leading a national initiative, funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to provide full-time faculty in all types of entry-level nursing programs with the skills, knowledge, and resources to educate nursing students to deliver high-quality and safe nursing care. Beth and Cathy attended this “train the trainer” conference and will be instrumental in leading integration of quality and safety concepts into our nursing curriculum.

As part of the Department of Labor Grant to create Health Care career pathways, South Central College received MnSCU approval to begin offering an Associate of Applied Science in Practical Nursing Degree (AAS PN). Qualified students have been accepted into this degree option beginning in spring semester. South Central College will continue to offer a diploma in Practical Nursing and the new AAS PN degree fits well with HLC recommendation to move to offering more degree options for students.

South Central College’s Nursing Department and the MSU School of Nursing will be hosting a one-day workshop on “Successful Clinical Teaching in Nursing Homes” on Friday, March 18, 2011, on the North Mankato campus. This workshop is part of a federal grant from the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) that was awarded to the University of Minnesota, School of Nursing, focusing on developing and sustaining exemplary clinical experiences for students in nursing homes. This workshop is designed for nursing faculty and nursing home staff.

SCC’s Annette Benson joined Colleen Royle, Lab/Simulation Coordinator at MSU, Mankato, in hosting the Minnesota Simulation Health Education Professionals (MN-SHEP) group on December 17, 2010 at SCC. MN-SHEP is a state-wide group of educators interested in using simulation in academic and clinical areas. At the meeting, a presentation on TeamSTEPPS, which is a teamwork system designed for health care professionals.

TeamSTEPPS is:

• A powerful solution to improve patient safety within your organization.
• An evidence-based teamwork system to improve communication and
• More information can be found at http://teamstepps.ahrq.gov/index.htm

Nursing is excited to announce that the Associate in Science Degree Professional Nursing Program is a candidate for accreditation by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC). This is a significant accomplishment as nursing continues the journey to national program accreditation. The nursing faculty, staff and administration are working collaboratively on meeting six NLNAC standards and criteria. This work will build quality and continuous improvement into our program.

Articles provided by Marilyn Swan Sirector of nursing

Marketing/Management and DECA

The State Collegiate DECA Career Development Conference will be held in Mankato at the Verison Wireless Center February 22, 23 and 24. Marketing, Business Management, Restaurant Management and Culinary students will be attending. South Central College students will be competing against other university, community and technical college and private colleges throughout the state at the conference. Over 500 students are expected to attend this state conference.

Most events involve individual case studies in the fields of Human Resources, Marketing Management, Restaurant Management, Retail Management, Hospitality and Travel and Tourism. Students are also registered for individual events such as Entrepreneurship, Sales Manager Meeting, Sale Representative, and Website Design. Several events are team-based and include Sports and Entertainment Marketing, Business Ethics and Business Law.

We look forward to a great state conference. Students who compete will be eligible for competition at the international level this year in Orlando Florida. The International Career Development Conference will be held April 12 to the 17th. We anticipate a great turnout for both the state and national conferences for Collegiate DECA.

2010-2011 SCC Collegiate DECA Officers. L to R: Clara Hanson, Sam Kelly, Calli Kapaun, Josh Rohlfing, Tara Bauer, Carl Schatz.

Tara Bauer is running for the office of State Vice President for the Southern Minnesota Region for 2011-1012! Wish her luck!

Roberta Moorhouse, Advisor and author

Community Social Service

Sara Wilfahrt SCC’s Coordinator of Work Study & Placement has been working hard with Blue Earth and Nicollet Counties to partner with them for opportunities for our students to gain some experience in the county system through work study. We currently have two students from the CSS program completing their work study hours at Blue Earth and most recently Nicollet Counties in a case aid position. This is a great learning opportunity for our students as well as showing our industry leaders how prepared our students are.

Wayne Whitmore Instructor in the Community Social Service program wrote and received a grant for $1000.00 from the ISJ/Mayo Health Care Systems Auxiliary Board to sponsor two speakers: a speaker on Autism and a speaker on depression. These will be held this spring in North Mankato and were collaboration between the Community Social Service Program and SCC’s Child Development program. South Central Organizations of Providers to Educate (SCOPE) will be playing a role in marketing these speakers. The dates for these speaking events will be announced at a later date.

Articles provided by Deb Salmon and Wayne Whitmore CSS Instructors

Child Development

Education Minnesota offers active members the opportunity to apply for Professional Development Grants. These Professional Development Grants provide higher education faculty with opportunities to acquire and share new skills and knowledge. These skills might include new instructional ideas, technology, conference attendance, etc. Applicants may request up to $3,000 to acquire these skills and share new learning. Lynn Grenz and Darci Stanford in Child Development Careers were each awarded $2300.00 to purchase materials that will increase their knowledge in the field as well as add new instructional materials to use with students. The materials will also be available for students to review and use in the field.

Article provided by Darci Stanford Child Development Instructor