Graceland University Eliminates Student Stop-Outs by Partnering with NPHub

Since 2010, Graceland University and its students felt the pain of the nationwide preceptor shortage. The university’s NP programs include Online Adult & Gerontology Acute Care NP, Online Doctor of NP, Online Family NP, and the Online MSN Psychiatric Mental Health NP.

Challenges

Like many universities nationwide, Graceland’s clinical placement team found themselves struggling to provide clinical placement support for all of their NP programs 

With a dedicated but small two-person clinical placement team, Graceland could only recruit preceptors in their home state, and anything outside of it was impossible. As a result, many frustrated students were left having to skip a semester or two.

Graceland’s Dean of Nursing, Dr. Jolene Lynn, and Graduate Practicum Coordinator, Lisa Winch, recognized that they needed to empower their students and help them graduate on time. 

They needed to find a way to improve the placement experience for their students without any additional burden to their team so they could also fulfill their other responsibilities and be there for students in other ways. 

Initiating the Partnership

Last year, Graceland University started looking for a solution outside of its team when the Board of Trustees wanted to address the struggle NP students face when securing preceptors and clinical placements.

Graceland decided to take a proactive approach and partner with NPHub.

NPHub allows Graceland students to not only have access to our vetted network of over 2,000 active preceptors across 45 states, but we also have our Preceptor Recruiting Team looking for exclusive preceptors for Graceland’s NP students. 

Here’s how NPHub did it:

1. We met with Dr. Lynn and Lisa Winch to better understand their students’ needs and Graceland’s clinical placement requirements.
2. Based on the requirements, our Preceptor Recruiting Team started researching preceptors and putting them through our vetting process:

• Credential verification: We obtain preceptor licensing and board certification info
• Red flag screening: We double-check for any public record of strikes or suspensions against the preceptor’s license
• Patient feedback analysis: We go over patient reviews of the clinic online
• In-depth interviews: We interview each preceptor and ask a carefully designed set of questions during onboarding
• Experience prioritization: We look for preceptors who are experienced and have precepted students in the past. Over 80% of our preceptors have multiple years of experience
• Student review gathering: We continuously gather reviews from students regarding their experience with our preceptors

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In addition, NPHub’s dedicated Student Placement Team has been able to support Graceland’s staff so they can reclaim their time, focus on other responsibilities, and be there for their students who may need help navigating the clinical placement process.

Results

Is Graceland’s partnership with NPHub successful? You can ask Dr. Lynn and Lisa Winch.

“Well, I think it is absolutely successful, lots of students. I mean, the students seem very satisfied and a lot less concerns about not being able to find placements.” - Dr. Jolene Lynn, Dean of Nursing at Graceland University

“Yes, we’ve had more students that I haven’t been worried about at the end of the term to get lined up and placed.” - Lisa Winch, Graduate Practicum Coordinator at Graceland University

Since partnering with NPHub, Graceland has had a 100% reduction in NP student stop-out rates due to not finding preceptors, down from 10 students per semester to 0.

Moreover, the partnership has dramatically increased placement efficiency. Before partnering with NPHub, Graceland's clinical placement team consisted of just two dedicated individuals. Now, Graceland has expanded its resources with a 51-person strong workforce, as NPHub has become an extension of Graceland's clinical placement team. 

Graceland’s NP students get the support and clinical experience they need to graduate ON TIME and become the skilled, compassionate NPs they aspire to be.

‍“It’s taken a huge amount of work off my back. It’s made me able to be there for the students. I don’t have to chase down contracts. I can’t tell you the number of emails, texts, back and forth just to get a signature….

“Knowing that [NPHub’s team] is getting to all those states and cities looking for preceptors and taking this huge undoable job off my shoulders. There’s no way I could give each preceptor the personal touch to ensure they’re signing the forms and ensuring they don’t need anything. It’s more than 1 person can do. Having NPHub actually go out there and essentially take my 2-man team and make it a 51-man team is HUGE.” - Lisa Winch, Graduate Practicum Coordinator at Graceland University

Now, one of the reasons NPHub stood out to Dr. Lynn and Lisa Winch was that NPHub is OPEN to partnering with NP programs that are looking to better their students' clinical placement experience.

So, if you’re looking for a clinical placement partner, we can help.

NPHub specializes in working with NP programs that want to: 

• Address the disparity in clinical site quality
• Boost preceptor access & availability
• Gain a competitive advantage over other NP programs
• Increase NP student retention rates
• Maintain tuition consistency
• …and more! 

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Let's work together to make a positive impact on the future of nursing education. Contact us today to learn how NPHub can help your NP program.