High school student Katelyn France, of Rawlins, checks out a patient simulator mannequin
in UW’s Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing during the Health Care Careers Summer Camp
hosted by the UW College of Health Sciences last summer. A new partnership between
the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing and the Cheyenne Regional Health System will
create a nursing faculty position. (UW Photo)
A gift of $250,000 from the Cheyenne Regional Health System will create a nursing
faculty position in the University of Wyoming’s Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing.
“Cheyenne Regional is excited about the opportunity to partner with the Fay W. Whitney
School of Nursing to help enhance nursing education, not only in our community, but
also across the entire region,” says Cheyenne Regional Chief Nursing Officer Tracy
Garcia. “Nursing requires extensive and lifelong education to stay on top of all the
advances in health care. This partnership will help ensure that nurses in our health
system and region have an opportunity to continue to learn, a vital part of providing
high-quality nursing care.”
In December, Cheyenne Regional, which includes Cheyenne Regional Medical Center and
its affiliated medical group, partnered with the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing
to create a shared faculty position. The position will be funded by both organizations
over five years. Position responsibilities include teaching, student advising, research
and creative activities, service to the university and community, and administrative
responsibilities.
“The Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing has been proud to partner with Cheyenne Regional
in the education of nurses in Wyoming,” Dean Sherrill Smith says. “This new partnership
will allow us to continue to expand our growth of nurses in the state, especially
in the area of evidence-based practice to promote safe patient care.”
This academic-practice partnership aims to further develop the UW student learning
experience, recruit Cheyenne Regional staff into the UW nursing program and enhance
patient care. The collaboration will help to develop UW student learning. Cheyenne
Regional provides students with substantial clinical experience and hires UW graduates.
In general, partnerships between the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing and other community
health care facilities are vital to UW nursing students, as they improve the quality
of students’ education. While other universities offer hundreds of hours of clinical
experience, UW is able to provide more than 1,000 hours because of these alliances.
The partnership will make higher education available to nurses at the center and in
the Cheyenne area. It aims to increase the number of Cheyenne Regional staff members
who have Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) or higher degrees.
Overall, the partnership will provide current nursing professionals with direct, flexible
paths to earn their BSN degrees. Academic and career advising will be made available
for nurses in the BSN completion program.
Both Cheyenne Regional and the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing will have input in
the hiring of the candidate, as well as performance appraisal.
