May 2013

"Thinking Ahead: Educational Innovation"

By Dean Gail Stuart, PhD, RN, FAAN

It has been said that the two institutions most resistant to change are academia and health care. The belief in “business as usual” probably accounts for the high costs and sometimes questionable outcomes of these endeavors.

I am proud to say that our MUSC College of Nursing has fully embraced change and the idea of disruptive innovations, as you will see in the pages of this issue of Lifelines. In fact, in the past 10 years we have literally transformed this College of Nursing from one that was small, contained and comfortable in its niche to one that is diverse, dynamic, and on the cutting edge of the changes that are taking place in education, research and health care.

This is reflected in our three impressive achievements in 2012 that set us apart from other colleges of nursing across the country:

• Ranked in the top 20 Best Online Graduate Nursing Programs by US News and World Report
• Ranked 21st in NIH research funding among all colleges of nursing nationally
• Leading the state by educating over 250 future primary care nurse practitioners and nurse educators

So you may be wondering how did we accomplish this transformation? The answer is clear and simple. First, we have a true team here in the College – working together to move each aspect of our work forward both individually and collectively. Second, we have a vision of greatness linked to preparing nurses who will shape the future of health care. Third and most important, we have a faculty and staff who embrace change, are willing to take risks, have a thirst for both quality and innovation, and are truly dedicated to the success of our students.

Together, we are constantly searching for new and better ways to do our work. We live with the understanding that change means growth, adaptation, experimentation and risk-taking. We have learned that it’s easy to come up with new ideas but the hard part is letting go of what has worked for us in the past but will soon be out of date. We also have learned that one of the pitfalls of success is the belief that what we did yesterday will be fine for tomorrow.

Here at the MUSC College of Nursing we believe that learning and innovation go hand in hand and we truly are “thinking ahead.”  Gail

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