America’s healthcare landscape is rapidly changing. The implications of rising healthcare costs, an aging population, and dramatic growth in the coordination of care away from the acute clinical settings of hospitals and toward community health centers or even the home have pushed educators to reconsider whether relying on traditional hospital settings as the sole training grounds for future generations of nurses adequately prepares their graduates for these ongoing transformations.
Together with community partners capable of providing expert mentorship, educators at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing have reimagined how nursing students acquire clinical expertise necessary to meet modern healthcare demands. Born out of Dean Sarah Szanton’s vision of the Neighborhood Nursing care model, where a nurse/community health worker team goes door-to-door to ensure every resident in Baltimore receives care, select students in the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Entry into Nursing program have the opportunity to embed themselves in outpatient community health centers to fulfill their clinical placement hours through the Outside Track.
“The Outside Track is any nursing role outside of traditional acute care (hospital care),” says Dr. Krysia Hudson, Assistant Professor and Associate Director of Clinical Practice at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. “It can be long term care, hospice, schools, clinics, ambulatory settings, outpatient clinics.”
Through this pioneering approach, entire communities become the backdrop for clinical experiences, greatly expanding the clinical proficiencies of nursing scholars such as third-semester MSN (Entry into Nursing) students Maxwell Fontaine and Leila Alikhani, and fifth-semester MSN (Entry into Nursing) student India Grant.
All three of these students come from varied academic and professional backgrounds. The Outside Track has given them a chance to break through traditional clinical preparation and experience a fuller range of interactions with their patients and with expert preceptors. “Students are encouraged to be molded into the environment as a group or with a preceptor. As a partner in the setting, the student has the opportunity to fully participate and become a member in the outpatient setting,” says Dr. Hudson. Through one-on-one preceptors, group formats, or hybrid formats, students acquire a broader scope of care. Upon graduation, each will be capable of entering inpatient and outpatient environments with confidence and a richer sense of the needs of their communities.
As Dr. Hudson highlights in her remarks, the last five decades have seen high numbers of hospital closures. Roughly a fifth of the nation’s population (approximately 60 million people) live in rural settings, and recent data published by the Center for Healthcare & Payment Reform (CHQPR) warns that more than 300 rural hospitals are in immediate risk of shuttering all services. A study published in April in the Annals of Epidemiology conducted by researchers from the University of Chicago concluded that urban hospitals in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas face higher rates of closure. “Healthcare is changing, with major hospitals closing, more care will transition to more non-traditional sites and we have the duty to explore what they may be,” says Dr. Hudson. “Our focus is to explore those changing sites and maximize the training that students will need to face the challenges of the future.” The alternate routes to clinicals provided through the Outside Track equip Johns Hopkins nursing students to face this dynamic healthcare landscape.
Take a deeper look at how the Outside Track will impact the future of nursing education.
Admissions Talks is a series by the admissions team at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. Hopkins nurses are full partners and leaders in the health care process, and their role in patient care is unmatched. The admissions team is here to offer advice and guidance on how to be a competitive applicant.
Admissions & Financial Aid at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
Read More:
- Embarking on a Journey of Compassion and Excellence: Clinical Rotations at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
- Pre-Health Courses at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
- The Johns Hopkins Online Prerequisites for Health Profession Student Experience
About the Author: Cesar Nuñez
Cesar Nuñez is the Assistant Director of DNP Executive and PhD Recruitment, and is part of the Admissions team at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.
