The home setting is a vastly different environment from the hospital setting. While each space in a hospital is organized according to the needs of the patient and the treatment they receive from physicians, nurses and other staff, the home is a patient’s personal space.

“We need nurses and care managers well versed in helping to manage successful transitions from hospital to home and in coordinating care of patients in their homes,” said Kathy Driscoll, chief nursing officer for Humana. “By focusing coursework that includes simulations and field experiences to successfully navigate care transitions and care in the home, we are helping students to prepare for that continuum and feel ready to practice in this type of environment.”

The partnership between University of Houston Andy and Barbara Gessner College of Nursing and Humana’s CenterWell Home Health, for example, focused on offering an innovative and forward-thinking elective to its nursing students. The Preventative and Restorative Nursing Care elective introduces undergraduate students to the concept, challenges and benefits of home health and care needs in the home.

“Community and home-based care as practice settings can be somewhat intimidating because the clinician may be alone in the care environment,” said Driscoll, adding that “this level of independence also means autonomy and the opportunity to see the environment where the patient lives and allow that to inform the care plan and goals for the patient, in addition to their health needs.”

During the two-week elective, students practiced care in the college’s interactive simulation lab, as well as spending time with patients in their homes. In the first week, the lab modeled three different spaces, each designed to look like a person’s home, with actors and mannequins taking on the roles of patients. In the second week, students paired up with nurses from Humana’s CenterWell Home Health to better understand the needs of patients in their homes firsthand, and coordinate and provide the care they needed. The students said the experience was profound, and within this short two-week period, they felt they had made a positive impact on the lives of these homebound patients, had a better understanding of the care continuum and the unique care needs of patients in home settings.

“We want our students to experience a wide variety of clinical settings,” said Kathryn Tart, professor and founding dean of the college, “and the home is an important clinical setting.”

The students and their preceptor’s patient visits included:

  • Physical assessments
  • Environmental assessments
  • Skilled nursing care
  • Assessment and coordination of needs for safety, family dynamics, financial insecurity, nutrition, medication reconciliation and patient education
  • Care coordination plan for ongoing needs

 

“I don’t know of any other nursing program in the greater Houston area that’s doing this,” Tart said. “This is not a typical part of what a nursing curriculum looks like.”

But this will most likely change soon. In 2021, The American Association of Colleges of Nursing published The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education and included home care as a core competency. As more patients and providers opt for care in the home, the Gessner College of Nursing wants to ensure competency around care coordination, and care in the home is a part of their curriculum.

“By meeting a patient’s care needs in the home, you can make a tremendous difference in people’s lives and help them to be their fullest and healthiest self,” said Tart. “That’s what we love doing as nurses.”

Efforts like these can be intrinsically rewarding for clinicians currently practicing in home settings, allowing them the opportunity to influence and support nursing students as they prepare to be part of the most caring profession, and, as Driscoll said, “help them to fully understand the continuum of care and care settings, how care managers can help ensure patients can achieve their best health at home, and hopefully consider choosing care in the home as their clinical practice setting.”

kathy driscoll

Kathy Driscoll, MSN, RN, NEA- BC, CCM, is senior vice president and Humana’s chief nursing officer, with a focus on improving the experience and well-being of the organization’s extensive nursing community. She oversees academic practice partnerships, clinician growth and development and clinician engagement. Under Kathy’s leadership, Humana has partnered with nearly 50 universities and funded the CenterWell Home Health Lab at Emory University to help address the nursing shortage and prepare nursing students for careers in home health. Kathy also leads initiatives to support the health and well-being of Humana’s clinical communities, leveraging national partnerships, such as those with the American Nurses Association’s Healthy Nurse Healthy Nation™.

Kathy is a registered nurse with more than 35 years of experience in nursing with a concentration in geriatrics, home care, managed care and care management. She holds a bachelor of science in nursing from Seton Hall University, and master of science in nursing management and executive leadership from Sacred Heart University. She also holds ANCC Nurse Executive Advanced and Case Management board certifications.

Kathy serves as president of the board of trustees for the American Nurses Foundation and is a member of the Emory University School of Nursing Dean’s Advisory Board as well as a member of the Editorial Board for CMSA Today.

kathryn m tart

Kathryn M. Tart, EdD, MSN, RN, is the founding dean and professor for the Andy and Barbara Gessner College of Nursing at the University of Houston (CON). UH’s BSN, MSN and DNP programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education with approval from the Texas Board of Nursing. The two Nursing 23Simulation Centers received accreditation through the Society for Simulation in Healthcare in 2023. She received the inaugural American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Advocate of the Year award in 2009 for her work in advocating for nursing education. She is a state grass roots liaison for Texas and served on the Government Affairs Committee for the AACN in Washington, DC.

Dr Tart is past president of the nursing honor society, Phi Chi Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International. Her research includes the Advancement in Nursing Education in Nursing I and II (APIN) grants, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She is past president of the Texas Association of Deans and Directors of Professional Nursing Programs for the State of Texas and served on numerous task force committees for nursing education at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. She served on the Internal Advisory Committee for the UH College of Medicine whose inaugural class matriculated in 2020. The inaugural Doctor of Nursing Practice program matriculated its first class in August 2021. In 2018 and 2023 CON and the Indian Nursing Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding for collaboration through academic programs and research. The CON received the Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) award from INSIGHT into Diversity magazine in 2016-2019 and 2021-2023. It is the only national award for diversity and inclusion in higher education.

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