UW School of Nursing establishes west campus with Gundersen Lutheran in La Crosse

It wasn’t all that long ago that Nursing School Dean Katharyn May traveled to La Crosse, Wisconsin, to meet with leaders of the Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center. They wanted to gauge her interest in forming a partnership that would not only increase the number of nurses being prepared in Wisconsin but would pair the School’s rich research tradition and educational prestige with a thriving clinical setting.

And they were prepared to commit resources.

“We were initially a little skeptical,” recalls Dean May. “But when we first toured the facility and met the leadership, I was enormously impressed with their commitment. It was, first, the way they talked to us, and it wasn’t just the nurses – it was the hospital CEO, the president of the medical foundation, and so on. When I heard later they were prepared to assume most of the operating costs, it was clear they were committed to making it happen. I had never been to a place with this much commitment to nursing.”

And so a partnership was born. The School of Nursing formally named Gundersen Lutheran the Western Campus for Nursing. In the fall of 2003, the first class of 12-14 nursing students will begin their baccalaureate nursing program at the School’s new campus in La Crosse. In the meantime, clinical nurses, educators and researchers on both sides of the fence are finding new ways to learn from and support each other.

The Birth of the Idea

Gundersen Lutheran is one of the state’s largest health care networks. It includes the 325-bed Lutheran Hospital along with numerous clinics, several nursing homes, behavioral, and home health services. When the organization completed a strategic plan a few years ago, developing a first-rate department of nursing education and research was among the top priorities.

Lee-Ellen Kirkhorn, ARNP, Ph.D., joined Gundersen Lutheran as administrative director of the newly established department in January 2001. In short order, she started a nursing fellowship program to provide professional advancement opportunities in education and research. She also quickly realized the value of Gundersen Lutheran’s existing designation as UW Medical School’s Western Clinical Campus. Why not the same – or more—for nursing?

Kirkhorn and Arthur Ross, M.D., director of the Medical School’s campus at Gundersen Lutheran, approached Dean May with the idea. She, too, realized what a fruitful partnership this could be for students, teachers and researchers alike. “We already have students outplaced to Gundersen Lutheran,” May explains. “But now there’s an opportunity to establish an innovative model of nursing education, address the workforce crisis and strengthen research at both places.”

Putting the Pieces in Place

Research partnerships are already underway, with School of Nursing faculty Lioness Ayres, Karen Kirchhoff and Patricia Brennan working closely with Gundersen Lutheran nurse fellows on advance care planning and other topics. With the beginning of classes slated for fall 2003, the detailed work of implementing the theoretical and clinical curricula is at full throttle. Students in the satellite BS program will be admitted, assessed and graduated as UW-Madison students. Gundersen Lutheran nursing specialists will teach courses in La Crosse, in collaboration with Madison faculty. Students will take clinicals at Gundersen Lutheran and apply their knowledge directly as they work with patients.

“One of our challenges will be finding clinicals for students to take,” says Carol Oldenburg, a Gundersen Lutheran nurse manager in education and research. “Even though the number of students at first won’t be huge, we will tap areas we’ve never tapped before as a place for students to learn. This can be a win-win for us and for the community.”

Nadine Nehls, associate dean for academic programs at the School of Nursing, says the adoption of a team teaching model will allow Gundersen Lutheran nurse instructors to work in parftnership with UW–Madison nurse educators. Learning objectives, expectations, and outcomes will be identical to those of UW–Madison based courses. Two UW-Madison faculty members, Assistant Professor Mary Ellen Murray and Clinical Associate Professor Pam Scheibel have assumed primary responsibility for developing faculty partnerships with GLMC staff.

May is especially delighted with one early, unexpected result: UW- La Crosse, already well known for its allied health programs, is coming in as a partner as well. The campus will provide student support services for the satellite campus students as they would for other UW–La Crosse students.

“Our eyes are on the far horizon,” says Gundersen Lutheran’s Kirkhorn. “This affiliation will surely help us attract the best and brightest nurses in a very competitive marketplace for their skills. But it also brings value to those of us already here and committed to improving both patient care and the working environment for nurses.”

For more information on Gundersen Lutheran’s designation as the Western Campus for Nursing, visit the website at http://www.gundluth.org/web/ptcare/westnursingcampus.nsf.