Innovative Strategies for Nursing Education: Enhancing Curriculum with the Electronic Health Record

The College of St. Scholastica has established an educational partnership with a leading health information technology vendor to integrate a state-of-the-art electronic health record system (EHR) into nursing education. The College secured a Title III Grant from the U.S. Department of Education in response to the nation's declared goal calling for all Americans to have an EHR by the year 2014. The grant project is a pioneering effort focused on increasing the competence and confidence of graduates to practice professionally in a computer-based and team-based work environment. Through the grant, the Department of Nursing has participated in activities to infuse real world clinical cases into the EHR system to enhance the nursing curriculum. This project allows educators to use hands-on, innovative approaches to actively prepare tomorrow's nurses for today's increasingly interdisciplinary and computer-based healthcare environments.