12: THE DNP AND ACADEMIC–SERVICE PARTNERSHIPS ■ 289We also identified examples of academic-practice partnerships that could serve
as models for DNP programs to develop indirect clinical experiences that will allow
students to develop their expertise in relation to the DNP essential skills not focused
on direct patient care. Jones, Mayer, and Mandelkehr (2009) described an academic-
practice partnership developed between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
and the University of North Carolina Health Care System. The partnership was designed
to educate graduate (master’s level) students about health care quality and safety. The
goal was to add a practicum experience to a course in the master’s nursing curricu-
lum focusing on quality improvement. The faculty member responsible for the course
worked with the director of performance improvement and the patient safety officer in
the health care system to develop a preceptor model and practical component as part
of the course. During the practicum experiences, students work in teams with service-
organization practice experts on quality and patient- safety initiatives in the participat-
ing organizations. The projects needed to be of importance to the partner organization
but also relevant to the learning needs of the students, be something that could be com-
pleted during one semester, and be appropriate for teamwork. Student teams worked in
parallel on different aspects of the project that allowed the teams to take on more com-
plex problems than a single student would be able to attempt within the timeframe of
the course. Preceptors in the practice setting were critical in connecting the teams with
the organization and paving the way for the project to be carried out, as well as mentor-
ing the students throughout the semester to keep the project on track. According to the
authors, the collaboration has had positive benefits for both academic and practice set-
tings. For the academic setting, it has provided students with an opportunity to apply
course content in clinical practice, facilitating their learning. For the practice settings, all
student projects resulted in recommendation that were implemented in the participat-
ing organizations. Within DNP programs, similar partnerships could allow students to
engage in indirect clinical experiences designed to allow students to develop expertise
in relation to the quality- improvement- related skill set defined in the DNP essentials.
In addition, they could give students access to clinical sites for their final DNP projects.
Fairchild (2012) described an academic– practice partnership between a university
and rural hospitals that focused on APRN students in a graduate online nursing infor-
matics course. The partnership led to the development of an online nursing informatics
service- learning course. Students worked with health care providers and nurse adminis-
trators in the partner rural health care settings to assist with various health information
technology (HIT) needs. During the semester, students teams (two to three students)
were assigned to the rural health setting where they worked with the personnel in the
setting to identify HIT continuing- education needs and then worked via telecommuni-
cations with their rural health care partners to design, conduct, and evaluate a project
related to and/ or supported by informatics or HIT. For DNP programs, projects such as
this would allow students to develop and demonstrate skills related to DNP essentials
focusing on information systems and technology as well as interprofessional collabora-
tion and teamwork.
In addition to these examples of partnerships identified in the literature, there
may be an opportunity for academic settings with APRN- DNP programs to work with
service or community partners to establish a nurse- run clinic. Nurse- run clinics can ben-
efit the academic setting by providing a practice setting for APRN- DNP faculty and
an opportunity for faculty to precept and evaluate students’ clinical skills. They can
provide practice sites for leadership as well as APRN- DNP students. These clinics can
benefit service settings by increasing access to care. Many of these clinics provide care to
underserved populations and can fill unmet health care needs (Sullivan- Marx, Bradway,
& Barnsteiner, 2011; Xippolitos, Marino, & Edelman, 2011).