Washington State Collaborative Project Focused on Patient Care

SPOKANE, Wash.– The Washington State University Intercollegiate College of Nursing Academic Health Services has received a $10,000 scholarship from the Washington State Collaborative: Diabetes Management and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention.

A team of faculty nurse practitioners and support staff from the college and People’s Clinic will work together with clinic teams from across the state for 18 months focusing on improving chronic care management for patients with diabetes.

Teams will test changes in their individual practices and collectively share lessons learned. The efforts will be focused on evidence-based care. The opportunity to work with other state teams allows best practices to be put in place.

People’s Clinic, a nurse managed health care clinic system, will focus on the adolescent and adult diabetic population whose access to primary care is impaired by economics, transportation, lack of insurance, cultural barriers and disabilities.

“In addition to faculty family nurse practitioners from the College of Nursing, the clinic also employs a diabetes educator,” said Margaret Bruya, assistant dean of Academic Health Services and professor at the WSU Intercollegiate College of Nursing. “The diabetic educator has expertise that directly impacts the care of many of our current diabetic clientele.”

People’s Clinic has a strong history of established local, regional and national grants and gifts, including a federal nursing grant to improve the nursing workforce. Additional partnerships exist with other organizations to provide services for clients. These include Project Access, a program for residents of Spokane County assisting uninsured individuals with diagnostic test, specialist fees or medications, and preventive and restorative dental services through the Washington State Health Care Authority.

“Our nursing students will be able to apply chronic disease management skills—specifically diabetes management skills—to individuals in a clinic setting, particularly where the individuals are experiencing a health care disparity,” said Bruya. “Faculty specializing in diabetes management will be able to enhance and maintain their advanced practice skills with a statewide impact.”

Established in 1968, WSU Intercollegiate College of Nursing is the nation’s first, oldest and most comprehensive nursing education consortium. The College of Nursing offers baccalaureate, graduate and professional development course work to nursing students enrolled in Spokane through its four consortium partners, Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga University, Washington State University and Whitworth College. The same programs are also offered in several communities across the state including Yakima, Vancouver, Tri-Cities and Walla Walla using the Washington Higher Education Telecommunications System’s interactive video as well as by videoconferencing, video streaming and Web-based instruction.

As the largest college of nursing in the Pacific Northwest, the WSU Intercollegiate College of Nursing is currently educating more than 850 upper-division undergraduate and graduate students, and each year graduates more entry-level nurses than any other educational institution in the state. In addition, its faculty researchers are contributing significantly to the knowledge base of the profession and of health care. For more information about the College of Nursing, visit the Web site at nursing.wsu.edu.