Nursing Fellowship to Promote Collaborative Practices between University Faculty and Community Health
Center Nurses

The Community Health Nursing Fellowship supported by the Helene Fuld Health Trust seeks to establish the opportunity to mutually share expertise in specific areas of community nursing practice in collaboration with faculty from Northeastern University's School of Nursing (NUSoN). University faculty (UF) and community health center professional nursing staff (CBF) plan to create an integration of time and talent for nursing students between the professionals needed by the community health centers and the learning needs supported by the NUSoN curriculum.

CCHERS and NUSoN have created a fellowship involving collaborative practices between university and community-based faculty. Practice is defined as specific nursing service to underserved populations from a (1) clinical, (2) research and/or (3) educational perspective. Areas of focus are to be determined based on population needs of the communities served by the health center. Population based health care needs are defined by clusters of health status indicators that have highlighted the services of the health centers over the past five years, as well as new and emerging needs that have been identified related to environmental health concerns of urban, inner-city living. The nursing practice areas for development are pediatrics, geriatrics, and women's health while the disease states include asthma, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, and domestic violence.