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The Teaching Nursing Home model, originally introduced in the late 20th century, was developed in response to growing concerns about the quality of care in nursing homes and a critical lack of geriatric education among healthcare professionals. The model entails the formation of academic-practice partnership between schools of nursing and long-term care facilities with students having regular clinical learning rotations in the facilities. The early effort, begun by Mathy Mezey and Ethel Mitty, was led largely by academic institutions aimed to transform nursing homes into sustained settings for clinical training, interprofessional collaboration, and practice innovation. Though some gains were achieved, the model did not produce a widespread sustained effect.
Today, the Teaching Nursing Home model is being reimagined through renewed academic-practice partnerships largely in response to the post-pandemic call for reform in long-term care. The Pennsylvania Teaching Nursing Home Collaborative is an exemplar of success in this renewed model with the involvement of 20 nursing schools and over 40 nursing homes across the state.
The Power of Academic-Practice Partnership
Clinical placements in nursing homes play a vital role in nursing education. Well-structured clinical experiences in long-term care settings allow students to gain essential exposure to caring for individuals aging with complex health conditions in a positive environment. Students can develop competencies aligned with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Baccalaureate Essentials, including clinical judgment, systems-based practice, and interprofessional collaboration. The integration of Age-Friendly Care: What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility, also grounds students in the core principles of high-quality geriatric practice.
Nursing homes provide robust opportunities for interprofessional education. Student nurses engage in collaborative care alongside nurses, physicians, social workers, and other allied health professionals and students, gaining practical experience in coordinated, team-based approaches to complex care. In addition to clinical skill development, Teaching Nursing Homes support leadership growth and policy engagement. Nursing home settings are ideal for the implementation of evidence-based practice models and often serve as sites for student-led capstone projects. Such initiatives both enhance student learning and can also result in measurable improvements to staff education, care processes, and resident outcomes.
The Teaching Nursing Home model offers a powerful opportunity to elevate both education and practice. It positions nursing homes as valuable partners in the preparation of a geriatric-competent, age-friendly workforce and reinforces the critical role of academic-practice collaboration.
To support the advancement of this model, HIGN has created The Teaching Nursing Home Series, an eight-part on-line interactive learning series to prepare nursing home staff and nursing school faculty to develop academic-practice partnerships. This series, which is now available at no cost, describes how to create successful student clinical rotations in nursing homes that allow students to care for older adults with complex and overlapping illnesses, provide exposure to and interaction with healthcare teams, and with faculty supervision that fosters the student’s appreciation of both the complexity of the care and the opportunities to achieve improvements that promote quality of life. A new book from Sigma Marketplace, Practice & Leadership in Nursing Homes, is an excellent companion resource for The Teaching Nursing Home Series. This book challenges educators and students to look beyond incorrect perceptions and negative attitudes to see a vibrant, growing healthcare sector ripe for nurses to make an impact and build rewarding careers. An accompanying Coaching Guide and Workbook will be available from Sigma Marketplace before the summer.
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