We are pleased to say that all three of our professional practice (on and off-campus) courses are in-person this semester. These courses are: 

• NRS 206: Professional Practice: Health Assessment. Students in this course have on-campus professional practice where they hone their foundational nursing skills. The concepts that are their primary focus are clinical judgment, communication, pain, and sensory perception. They also build on previous concepts and prepare for future concepts as needed in the course. 
• NRS 308 Professional Practice: Acute Illness Management. Students have an off-campus professional practice placement in a variety of settings that meet the course and program outcomes. The variety of settings are intentionally designed to meet the course and program outcomes to prepare students for their role as future nurses. The concepts that are their primary focus are anxiety, intracranial regulation, mobility, psychosis, sleep, and tissue integrity. They also build on previous concepts and prepare for future concepts as needed in the course.
• NRS 408 Transition to Professional Practice. There are three professional practice tracks in this course: Traditional, Mixed, and Simulation. The variety of settings are intentionally designed to meet the course and program outcomes to prepare students for their impending graduation and role as future nurses. The concepts that are their primary focus are health law, health policy, and work environments. They also build on previous concepts and synthesize all concepts in this final practice course of their program.

Our NRS 308 and 408 courses also use simulation as part of the professional practice experience. It is important to note, we are one of the few nursing schools in Oregon that exclusively uses live professional trained actors for all on-campus simulations to ensure the most realistic experience for our students’ learning. 

We also want to share the process by which our off-campus professional practice placements are made. The University of Portland School of Nursing is an active member of the StudentMax Connections Consortium, which is a large body of clinical partners and all schools of nursing in the Portland-area that collaborate with one another to maximize clinical capacity by dispersing and sharing clinical placements for nursing students. All of our acute care hospital partners and many of our non-acute care/community-based partners are members of the Consortium. 

For us to receive placements from the clinical partners in the Consortium, we must follow their processes and timelines. Our team requests the needed placements through the Consortium, and they follow a standardized process to divide out the clinical placements among all nursing schools. This process is very rigorous and as members of this Consortium, we must abide by their processes. If we do not, we risk jeopardizing all clinical placements from the Consortium and our clinical partners. 

Our Center for Clinical Excellence team actively advocates for our nursing students and off-campus clinical placements, but the pandemic has significantly impacted the availability of clinical placements. We know our clinical partners value our partnership and our students, but they are struggling to provide daily patient care during this continued crisis while also prioritizing nursing student education. 

Profession Practice Requirements

• Students in professional practice courses have requirements that must be met each semester. Please know all students have been notified of these requirements since their first-year in the nursing program with numerous reminders. 
• We have been working closely with students to make sure students are meeting these requirements with emails and reminders.
• If students have not completed their professional practice requirements by the due date, they may be unenrolled from their nursing courses. These requirements are not mandated just us, but by our professional practice partners and the state of Oregon. 
• Please see the “Requirements of on-and Off-campus Professional Practice Policy” in the BSN Student Handbook.  There, you can also find a list of all the professional practice requirements listed. 

Here are some additional activities we have added to professional practice to support students learning:

• Faculty and Teaching Assistant guided open labs;
• Virtual simulation with robust debriefing; and
• Clinical faculty guided supplemental simulations with a newly updated simulation case library.

How we’re keeping our community safe

• We have the Pilots Prevent website and team, which provides university guidance and support for any COVID questions or concerns. 
• Students in the school of nursing are provided appropriate personal protective equipment.
• Faculty and staff are implementing additional cleaning in high-use areas such as the lab and Simulated Health Center.
• Students are getting COVID tested the week of January 10^th as part of the University requirement.
• All faculty, staff, and students are required to self-screen to participate in any professional practice activities.
• We are following the guidelines and recommendations from the Center for Disease Control, Oregon Health Authority, and Multnomah Country to ensure everyone’s safety. 

The pandemic has created challenges for professional practice in nursing education everywhere in the country, and even the world. Know that we are dedicated to ensuring a high-quality education that ensures all of our future Pilot Nurses are prepared to lead the nursing profession out of this pandemic.