Chancellor’s Service Excellence Awards
Dr. Sandra Daniel, Dean of the GSW School of Nursing – Outstanding Leader
The mission of the School of Nursing is to prepare safe and competent professional nurses, who in collaboration with others, provide or facilitate high quality patient-centered care in a global society. Dr. Sandra Daniel, dean of the School of Nursing, excels at preparing nurses for careers in the healthcare industry. Using the information included in this document, please consider her for the Chancellor’s Service Excellence Award – Outstanding Leader.
Added responsibilities and improvements:
Over the last year, establishing an educational practice partnership between the Georgia Southwestern School of Nursing and Phoebe Putney Health System (PPHS) became a major priority forDr. Sandra Daniel, dean of the School of Nursing. Ideally the partnership would improve the quality and expand the quantity of student learning experiences within the southwest Georgia region; and it would increase the number of GSW nursing graduates practicingin the region.
While enrollment and graduation from this nursing program has grown substantially over the past five years, health care providers in this region have not benefitted from the increased number of qualified nurses. One major reason for this is that many new nursing graduates, especially those who are not place bound to this part of the state, are lured to larger metropolitan areas.
As the primary teaching facilities for GSW’s clinical educationpurposes, increase the number of GSW nursing graduatespracticing in this region was a priority for PPHS. Phoebe wanted to fill vacancies in high acuity specialty areas, which can be difficult, and he GSW School of Nursing’s priority was to gain access to more acute care specialty experience inits senior capstone course.
Meetings with Phoebe organizational leaders, tours of the simulation facility, and facilitating discussions with faculty to create interest took place over six months. Both sides developed the mutual strategies listed below:
Strategies:
1)Going back to fall 2012, PPHS Human Resources and nursing staffworked collaboratively with Dr. Daniel and professors from the senior leadership course to incorporate professionalismtopics pertaining to employment retention and employee off boarding. Feedback was very positive and led to further planningto expand the partnership. Phoebe also provided career placement opportunities upon graduation for students; however, only four graduates were hired into the Phoebe System.
2)The results of the initial collaboration led to a formal commitment betweenPPHS and GSW to further explore and develop educational strategies.
3)Dean Daniel and leaders at Phoebe developed a plan to enhance specialty clinical educationin senior courses, which includes:
a)The delivery of simulation experiences by PPHS staff at the School of Nursing in:
i)Operative Nursing
ii)Rapid Assessment
iii)Advanced Cardiac Life Support
iv)Orthopedics/Neurology
b)Classroom instruction on leadership and quality issues from PPHS Human Resource and organizational leadership teams.
4)Phoebe increased the number of preceptors in all acute care nursing areas at all PPHS facilities.
a)GSW was offered priority placement for students in all areas.
b)A total of 22 students completed their capstone senior practicum in ED, Orthopedics/Neurology, OR, ICU, CCU, or NICU.
Results
Students completed evaluations for all simulated experiences. Results were excellent and plans are to expand specialized simulation and professionalism training across the curriculum utilizing a collaborative teaching approach between Phoebe and the School of Nursing.
Eight of the 22 students who completed their capstone practicum have been hired onto PPHS specialty units after graduation (as of June 15, 2014), and additional graduates are interviewing to fill otherpositions. Phoebe’s HR director, “We are pleased and the return on Phoebe’s investment has exceeded expectations”.
Meetings between PPHS and GSW Nursing are held monthly to assess effectiveness of the partnership. Future plans are to explore the feasibility of establishing joint faculty-staff appointments for education.
Awards
Though not an award received by Dr. Daniel, Phoebe Putney Health System sponsored a new GSW Clinical Excellence Award. Georgia Southwestern nursing faculty and PPHS preceptors worked collaboratively to select the recipient. The inaugural recipient, Rebecca Wingard, was recognized at the annual nurse pinning ceremony.
Phoebe leadership was also presented with an appreciation award for establishing the partnership with the School of Nursing.
Caption for attached image:
Sandra Daniel (far right), dean of the School of Nursing, standing with representatives from Phoebe Putney Health System and recent nursing graduate Rebecca Wingard.
July 11, 2014
SUBJECT: Endorsement of Dr. Sandra Daniel for Service Excellence Award
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to endorse without reservation Dr. Sandra Daniel’s candidacy for the Service Excellence Award. As the dean of the School of Nursing for the last seven years, Dr. Daniel has demonstrated repeatedly the core values of being respectful, accessible, informed, supportive, and responsive. Whenever issues arise, be they student related or programmatic, Dr. Daniel interfaces with members of the university community in a way that makes it a pleasure to work with her. Her attitude and concern shine forth as examples for her faculty and are also demonstrated in the kinds of success the School of Nursing has been able to enjoy over the last several years. Her presence stretches also beyond the campus into the community. Because of Dr. Daniel’s adherence to the tenets of service excellence, we have seen a growing relationship between the university and Phoebe Sumter Health Systems, as well as a reputation for Georgia Southwestern’s School of Nursing that is solid and highly regarded throughout our portion of the state. Dean Daniel has benefited her students, her faculty, her university, and her region through her attitudes and behavior. She is highly deserving of this award. Thank you for your consideration
Sincerely yours,
Brian U. Adler
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Dean of the Faculty