Collaboration between FAU College of Nursing and Early Child Development Center Provides National Model for Pediatric Training
Like their counterparts across the nation, students in Florida Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing must learn to work with the youngest of patients – children – before embarking on a nursing career. In an innovative, interdisciplinary approach to teaching pediatric nursing, these students can look no further than FAU’s Karen Slattery Educational Research Center for Child Development to gain vital experience serving local children.
Operated by FAU’s College of Education, the Slattery Center is an award-winning lab school for young children. Marian Godin, a board-certified family nurse practitioner, an adjunct faculty member and clinical scholar in the College of Nursing, takes nursing students to the Center to learn the nuances of pediatric care, with a focus on health promotion and wellness.
“By immersing the nursing students in a well-child setting like a preschool, they are able to assess and observe a large number of healthy children from birth to age 5,” said Godin. “We are able to focus on the rapid changes in growth and development for this unique population, as well as typical health concerns for children in this age range. We also focus on promoting health and encouraging positive health habits with the children.”
Nursing students observe and interact with local children in a non-threatening environment, which teaches them how to approach and relate to children. They also learn about public health issues affecting children, parents and the greater South Florida community, including the impact of nutrition on their physical and brain development, various risk factors that affect this unique population and much more.
“The skills we learn in this community-based setting help the nursing students to be more confident and skilled when working with children in the hospital and provide a positive image of nurses for the children at Slattery,” said Godin.
Recently, children between the ages of 3 and 5 from the Slattery Center took a field trip to the College of Nursing, where they role-modeled what nurses do to help create a positive impression. Children learned basic health activities, including tooth brushing and hand washing.
The collaboration has been a real benefit for the children and teaching staff at the Slattery Center as well as the nursing students. New this semester, Godin has been serving as a school nurse four hours a week at the Slattery Center. In this role, she examines both well and sick children, and makes recommendations. Godin also educates and advises staff, parents and children regarding public health issues.
“It is important that nurses see basic child development and understand the rapid growth of a child’s brain at various ages,” said Lydia Bartram, director of the Slattery Center. “Because our children are from the local area, collaborating with the College of Nursing has allowed the University as a whole to strengthen its service to our community. It’s a partnership that could provide a national model for universities with lab schools to bring together the disciplines of early childhood education and pediatric nursing.”
To learn more about pediatric community nursing, contact Marian Godin at mgodin@fau.edu.
To learn more about the Slattery Center, contact Lydia Bartram at lbartram@fau.edu or 561-297-0130.