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UMass Lowell-D’Youville Transitional Care
Dedicated Education Unit (TC DEU)
FY 2011 – Education Redesign Grant
Nursing and Allied Health, Mass. Department of Higher Education
Interim Project Implementation Report
January 15, 2012
Karen Devereaux Melillo, PhD, ANP-C, FAANP, FGSA, Principal Investigator
Progress made toward stated goals
Specific Aims that Guide the Research Project:
1. To develop the Transitional Care Dedicated Education Unit (TC DEU) program
2. To determine program feasibility and satisfaction with the TC DEU initiative for
students, faculty and staff
3. To evaluate changes in student and staff eldercare cultural self-efficacy and selfassessment of geriatric assessment knowledge for estimation of effect sizes to conduct a
larger study in the future
4. To assess junior-level nursing student, intern, preceptorship, and post-grad residency
interest in LTC as a career option
Proposed Partnerships Activities Include:
1) Development of preceptorship training curricula related to the treatment of physical and
mental health problems in older adults, which will be disseminated to other universities
and LTC facilities via a state-wide website
2) Conduct joint training sessions for faculty and staff
3) Implement student summer internships to foster LTC as a primary career option for new
BSN graduates
4) Develop clinical placements for junior nursing students during fall and spring semesters
5) Host a summer 2012 workshop for LTC facilities and Massachusetts institutions of
higher education to provide hands-on training materials and seminars, and present results
of this pilot project to enable the project to be replicated statewide
Summary of Progress:
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First formal partner meeting held September 14, 2011 at D’Youville Life and Wellness
Community
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Sophomore nursing student selected for 10-hour/week internship at D’Youville, Elma
Chauke, September 19, 2011; under direction of Cynthia Dobrzynski, Director of Mission
and Values
o Completes biweekly formative evaluations
o Maintains weekly log of hours/activities
o Under guidance of Co-Investigator, Dr. Jacqueline Dowling, Director of the
Baccalaureate Nursing Program
Summer internship for ‘Advanced CNA’ position for post-sophomore year will be
announced via Blackboard in Dr. Lisa Abdallah’s (co-investigator), 33:201 Fundamentals
of Nursing course, Spring 2012
Program planning in conjunction with partner, Cynthia Thornton, Director of Nursing,
Liaison
Clinical Instructor/Teacher Handbook/Binder developed
Copies of the book, Fast Facts – Clinical Nursing Instructors, for all Clinical Teachers
provided
Recruitment of clinical agency/clinical teacher faculty - Director of Nursing selected 4
nurses to serve as Clinical Teachers, who are long-term nursing staff at D’Youville but
were hired specifically for the Transitional Care Unit (grand opening late January/early
February 2012)
o Detailed Job Description developed and approved by D’Youville for soliciting
potential Clinical Teachers, September 17, 2011
First 2 of 3 two-hour workshops/training sessions held at D’Youville; November 29,
2011 and December 20, 2011, with third planned for early to mid-January
Twelve (12) junior-level nursing students selected from all 107 junior-level nursing
students who were sent an invitation; those expressing interest in participating in the
DEU and who met academic eligibility criteria and were recommended by nursing
faculty were selected, November 2011
Senior nursing student to be enrolled in Spring 2012 Senior Role Practicum was selected
for the preceptorship experience, Stephanie Tremblay; Cynthia Thornton, DON,
exploring with senior staff who will serve in this capacity, December 2011
Clinical agency contract between UMass Lowell and D’Youville Life and Wellness
Community was updated and distributed for signatures; Arline El-Ashkar, MS, RN,
Director of Clinical Resources will forward to D’Youville, December 2011
August 2012 State-wide Seminar/Conference on Dissemination/Replicability of DEU
Program, has been booked for the UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center and will be
conducted in conjunction with Mass. Senior Care Foundation/UMass Lowell cosponsored “Faculty Institute in Gerontological Nursing” along with the MDHE-funded
UMass Lowell-D’Youville TC DECU (for attendance of the 10 selected nurse faculty
from across the state), with a confirmation date of Thursday, August 16, 2012 set on
December 21, 2011
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Evaluation of the TC DEU – data have been collected from all 107 Junior-level nursing
students, utilizing the Eldercare Cultural Self-Efficacy Scale (Shellman, 2006) in
September 2011, to be re-tested again post-Spring 2012, comparing the DEU versus
faculty-supervised placement students on eldercare cultural self-efficacy and
gerontological nursing knowledge
o Institutional Review Board application approved through UMass Lowell for
collection and analysis of evaluative data, 9-3-11
o Two Graduate Nursing Students selected to conduct Independent Study:
Research Project activities with Dr. Juliette Shellman, Co-Investigator
o Kate Ingram and Anita Ash: Dr. Juliette Shellman has met with the 2 MS
students to plan research plan for Independent Study: Research Project
o Pre-test of the Eldercare Cultural Self-Efficacy Scale (Shellman, 2006) will be readministered to all Junior-level nursing students first week of Spring semester
classes, and post-evaluation will be completed at the end of the Spring semester to
compare and contrast impact the practicum in DEU will have had on students in
the experimental group versus those in the traditional faculty-supervised
placements in gerontological-rehabilitation nursing
Subcommittee on Clinical Teacher Workshops/Training Sessions has held several
meetings
Full Project Meetings have occurred in August 23, September 8, and November 30, with
4th planned for January 4, 2012
Collaboration with the University of Portland’s Nursing Program, and the first DEU in
LTC developed by them and presented at the AACN Annual Conference, is scheduled
with a conference call on January 4, 2012 with Dr. Chad O’Lynn and Dr. Karen
Devereaux Melillo and other available TC DEU research team members
Contact made with Dr. Paul Katz, MD, Baycrest Geriatric Center, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada, regarding LTC DEU grant received by their Ministry of Health for implement an
interprofessional DEU – initial email/phone contact held 9-5-2011, with plans to confer
further; Dr. Katz approached Dr. Alice Bonner at CMS, who put him in touch with Mass.
Senior Care Foundation’s Laurie Herndon, MS, GNP-BC, who contacted us at UMass
Lowell
Development of a Wiki site to enable uploading of training and resource materials for
D’Youville Clinical Teachers and Nursing Staff, in progress; Dr. Ruth Remington taking
leadership on this activity
Development of an Organizational Chart, depicting relationships among D’Youville TC
DEU and UMass Lowell partners, in collaboration with and feedback from, all
stakeholders
Poster development for dissemination
o At D’Youville partner/recruitment of nursing staff Clinical Teachers meeting,
October 20, 2011
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o At MDHE Grantees’ Meeting, October 21, 2011
o In class for 33:313 Nursing Health Assessment for all 107 junior-level nursing
students
o At Training Session #1 for Clinical Teachers at D’Youville, November 29, 2011
Update on coordination of activities per proposed timeline
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See above; activities per proposed timeline are on target as of 12-24-11
Changes in the scope/impact of the project
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See above; no changes in scope/impact projected
Status of relationship/support with practice partners
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See above; no issues to report
Budget issues
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Fewer than anticipated 6 Clinical Teachers available; question arose about whether
paying twice the stipend for preceptoring two junior students would be workable
If payment is not increased, can these additional funds be utilized to help to co-sponsor
the statewide conference August 16, 2012?
DVD resources from the University of Portland were previewed and purchased for
Clinical Teacher workshops/training sessions (and utilized December 20, 2011)
Hired Stephanie Lane, MSW, as Administrative Assistant
Unexpected/major issues or potential barriers to success
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Qualifications of Clinical Teachers/nursing staff at D’Youville, and the 33-bed smaller
size of the unit, meant fewer individuals met the minimum criteria to serve as Clinical
Teachers; DON, Cynthia Thornton is the ‘Clinical Teacher/Supervisor of Record’ for
those who do not meet the minimum criteria