Nursing fellowships have increased over the last couple of years. In the nursing profession, situations and various medical conditions are changing while new ones develop. Nurses are constantly facing new and complex challenges while attending to their duties. Introduction of nursing fellowship programs is oriented to address these situations by equipping the nurses with current and evidenced-based technology.
Organizations such as the ACS (American College of Surgeons) and various groups in the medical field are providing more information regarding the best trauma practices. Additionally, they are ensuring that there is improved trauma care all over the world. Nursing trauma fellowships through various collaborations among the various institutions can trauma care that has the global standards. According to Dubose et al. (2009), such collaborations will result in promotion of developed trauma care, in the less developed areas.
Fellowships have allowed knowledge to be shared across borders. This process began by young physicians travel abroad to learn new ways and advanced methods involved in medical care. Consequently, the physicians return to share the new knowledge learnt and how it might be used to advance the medical field in their respective countries. Trauma fellowships have the probability of providing advanced medical care. Despite being some differences in the way trauma care is provided, these fellowships may result to increasing the level of trauma based care and providing more evidenced based practices. The benefits of the fellowship may be directed to the fellows, trauma patients and sponsoring institutions.
Benefits to Fellows
Nurses can be able to increase their nursing medical knowledge through a trauma nursing fellowship. In addition, the way of practicing medical care is improved because of the new knowledge they learn. Moreover, because of the levels of communications involved in the learning process, their interpersonal skills are improved and this proves to be of critical importance when addressing trauma patients.
Interactions in a trauma nursing fellowship results to exposure to new research in trauma care management. These fellows learn how to use various tools and how implementations of large trauma databases may benefit the nurses when addressing patients with trauma care. Such databases reduce confusion and improve efficiencies in obtaining information relating to the different trauma scenarios. The nursing fellows will be able to have firsthand experience in new research and tools hence when they decide to practice and implement. According to Gawlinski & Becker (2012) nursing fellows learn how to use the various journal databases and develop a variety of skills such as how to search and obtain applicable information.. Further, they are able to know how to synthesize relevant information and how to apply it by creating evidenced-based innovation. Consequently, application of the knowledge learnt shows mastery of the issues involved in trauma care.
According to Coakley and Ghiloni (2009), students who were involved in the oncology nursing fellowship developed confidence level in the way they handled patient care and family interactions. The time spent with patients, and further knowledge gained in understanding processes such as chemotherapy made the students become more familiar with what patients and nurses go through in their everyday lives in the hospital (Dains, Dallred, Neumann & Summers, 2007). The use of nursing fellows that have undergone through a fellowship program helps to ease training. This is true especially when a hospital is hiring new graduates in a situation where trauma care is required.
Since fellowships involve a certain level of supervision, nursing fellows being involved in patient care can be to learn more by interacting with the trauma patients under the supervision of the nursing superiors. In addition, the fellows will be exposed to nursing conferences where the elite in the nursing field discuss issues affecting trauma care and discuss ways in which improved ways may be used to enhance trauma care. In the process of the trauma care fellowship, nurses are able to acquire valuable information regarding trauma management activities involved in trauma care and how to ensure that high quality trauma care services are provided. A good example of this situation is in the Oncology Fellowship Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital. This fellowship program provides valuable training and specialty that the graduates did not experience in their undergraduate studies. Furthermore, the fellows were able to become familiar with hospital settings (Coakley & Ghiloni, 2009). Hospitals can benefit tremendously in terms of performance when nurses feel comfortable and confident in the execution of their duties. This helps to reduce problems that accompany the impending nursing shortages in most hospitals.
For foreign fellows that acquire the valuable trauma care knowledge, they can be able to use the practice based trauma care skills in the hospitals of their respective countries. This will result to improved trauma care in those hospitals and subsequently the level of care delivered to the trauma care patients will be increased. Furthermore, nursing fellowships in trauma care may cater for certain financial burdens that may be incurred by the fellows. This allows them to focus fully in the nursing process. In addition, nurses will be able to provide their best in circumstances where they are supposed to participate in the trauma care of a patient.
Likewise, fellows from the different countries are able to establish a form of social network through which they can communicate and exchange ideas on how improve trauma care as they go on with developing their careers and training. Further, the trauma nursing fellowship provides an atmosphere that motivates the nursing fellows to be dedicated to the work hence improved trauma care may result. In the trauma fellowship program, the nursing fellow will be involved in learning all types of instructional and practical skills that will equip the nursing fellow with diagnostic, technical, interventional and procedural skills that are essential in trauma care management.
Benefits for the hospital or Institution supporting the Nursing Fellowship
Implementation and running of a fellowship program in a hospital provides a range of benefits. Since most hospitals have an inadequate number of the nursing staff, a fellowship program may seek to address this problem by reducing the work load encountered by the on duty nursing staff. These duties can be assigned to the nursing fellows, but under strict supervision since trauma care requires close observation to avoid any major incidents. In hospitals where nursing research is being conducted, presence of the nursing fellows will provide time to the nursing academics that are committed to research evidenced based practices that can aid in improving trauma care management. Furthermore, incorporation of nursing research fellows may help the hospitals in acquiring funding and further, may help in conducting of the nursing trials. This enhances the performance of the organization or hospital. Additionally, there is a significant saving of finances that might have been lost were it not for the incorporation of the nursing fellowship program.
The hospital may benefit by establishing and utilizing a network of nurses fellows that can if the hospital in cases where there are complicated trauma scenarios. Other fellows that move to other hospitals may provide new information concerning evidenced based practice that relates to trauma care. The saves on cost of services offered and lives are saved. This kind of network may open up new avenues of funding for the hospital that has a nursing fellowship program. Further, development and growth in clinical trauma care is supported. Moreover, trauma fellowship may result to discovery of new and cheaper methods of practicing trauma care management, which will result in the hospital saving a lot financially.
Most hospitals are faced with increased levels of disasters and emergencies. A trauma nursing fellowship may assist in providing the necessary trauma nursing manpower. Additionally, this proves to be more beneficial if the trauma nursing fellowship program is designed to allow the nursing fellows to be involved directly in providing patient care. Graduates who pass through a trauma fellowship program may be able to make proper choices whether to continue in trauma management care or not. Such decisions are critical especially to the hospital involved, this is because employing a graduate who has not yet experienced what trauma management is all about may prove to be costly both financially and loss of patient life. For instance in the oncology nursing fellowship at Massachusetts general hospital, one of the graduates fellows chose not to be involved in oncology nursing after passing through the fellowship program (Coakley &Ghiloni, 2009). Hospitals with a trauma nursing fellowship can be able to recruit and retain nursing staff. Majority of this staff is qualified to handle the demanding work that is involved in trauma management care. This benefit on recruitment is evident at the University of California-Los Angeles Medical Center (UCLA) medical center (Gawlinski & Becker, 2012). Furthermore, nursing staff at UCLA can be able to share new ideas while fostering and developing new evidenced based practices that are essential in promoting the nursing standards.
The Ronald Reagan University of California-Los Angeles Medical Center has set up an evidence-based practice fellowship program. This fellowship program aids the nurses working to address practice challenges through a mentorship program (Gawlinski & Becker, 2012).
Benefits to Nurses and Patients
Gawlinski and Becker (2012) note that having an evidence-based practice fellowship has a significant benefit to the nurses as well as the patients. Practicing nurses can be able to evaluate existing information an evidence to address practical issues they face in while performing their duties (Happell, Johnston & Hill, 2003). Nurses who gain knowledge through such experiences are able to provide quality care to patients. A hospital that may choose to implement a trauma fellowship program will enjoy such benefits for its patients. A trauma fellowship program will provide growth and development for practicing nurses. Consequently, they will be advocates for positive change in the trauma care management in the hospital.
Most nursing fellowship programs are designed to promote advanced practice preparation in the various specialties in nursing (Milne, Krishnasamy, Johnston, & Aranda, 2007). Since the fellowship is oriented to prepare nurses by equipping them with resources and skills required to carry out research actives, a trauma fellowship will seek to address similar requirements and in the process provide a relief to the nurses that are involved in a range of responsibilities that encompass trauma management.
References
Coakley, A.B. & Ghiloni, C.A. (2009). A Fellowship Program Preparing Students for
Employment as New Graduate Nurses in Oncology Nursing. Creative Nursing, 15 (1), 46-52.
Dubose, J. et al. (2009). An International Fellowship in Trauma Research and the Potential
Benefits for Fellows, Sponsoring Institution, and the Global Trauma Community. American Surgeon, 75 (4), 324-330.
Dains, J., Dallred, C., Neumann, J. & Summers, B. (2007). Development of an Advanced
Practice Oncology Nurse Fellowship. Oncology Nursing Forum, 34 (2), 480-481.
Gawlinski, A. & Becker, E. (2012). Infusing Research into Practice: A Staff Nurse Evidence
Based Practice Fellowship Program. Journal for Nurses in Staff Development, 28 (2), 69-73.
Happell, B., Johnston, L. & Hill C. (2003). Implementing research findings into mental health
Nursing practice: Exploring the clinical research fellowship approach. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 12 (4), 251.
Milne, D.J., Krishnasamy, M., Johnston, L., & Aranda, S. (2007). Promoting evidence-based
Care through a clinical research fellowship Programme. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 16 (9), 1629-1639.
