Power of partnerships

Alliances show students the value of nursing careers

By Diane Dungey
Photo by Erik Unger

Nursing student Samantha Rosales chatted with residents at the BEDS Plus Summit Service Center as she helped prepare their lunch — a way to get to know them and learn about the circumstances that led them to the medical respite facility.

The connection with BEDS Plus, which gives recently hospitalized people without housing a safe place to recover while accessing medical care and other supportive services, is one of many partnerships between the Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and community organizations that provide health care to people who need it.

The partnerships provide broad experiences to nursing students while exposing them to the real-world impacts of housing instability, food insecurity, inadequate access to health care, and other social determinants of health.

“It’s a symbiotic relationship between academia and our health care partners,” says Mary McNamara, Loyola’s inaugural associate dean for innovative partnerships and faculty practice. “It results in better prepared students, innovative models of care, excellent opportunities for research, and better patient care outcomes.”

Named to that role in 2022, McNamara is charged with building new strategies for faculty practice and creating partnerships with communities and health care systems.

That includes the BEDS Plus partnership, where Rosales had come to a momentous conclusion. She intended to devote her career to working with people who are underserved — like those she met at BEDS Plus.

“Being able to talk to the residents helped me solidify my decision to go into community health,” says Rosales, who is enrolled in the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program.

A team approach to patient care

Open since March 2023, BEDS Plus can house 18 people who need help stabilizing their health and securing housing.

For Iraq War veteran Dartagnan Landing, that help includes coordinating with Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital on his medical care and providing a quiet place to rest. Mark, who did not give his last name, says BEDS Plus helped with his application for Social Security disability benefits.

“They give us hope,” says William Chiarappa, who came to BEDS Plus after living on the street in Tinley Park, Illinois.

The student nurses focus on preventative programs and learn a team approach to caring for BEDS Plus residents and others who drop in at the Summit center.

“Listening to everyone’s stories, in and of itself, can change the students,” says Kate Myczek, Loyola clinical assistant professor and co-director of the family nurse practitioner track.

Luz Cruz, of Chicago Ridge, Illinois, also an ABSN student, formerly was a COVID-19 case manager for Cook County. Working in the community was nothing new to her, but being at BEDS Plus gave her a different perspective.

“We get the experience of working with people who are homeless,” Cruz says. “As nurses, even if you don’t work in community health, you may have a patient on your medical surgical floor who is homeless or is at risk for being homeless. You can help connect them to resources.”

A network of partnerships

The alliance with BEDS Plus is just one of the partnerships aimed at preparing Loyola students for an array of nursing roles. Loyola Nursing operates a longstanding School-Based Health Center (SBHC) at Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois, offering a range of services: primary and urgent care, immunizations, behavioral health services, and more. SBHC staffing includes Loyola nurse practitioners, a physician, social workers, and a dietitian.

For many students and families in the under-resourced community, the SBHC is their main health
care resource.

“We can offer them care in a safe and convenient location, so that all students have access to health care, and it keeps them in school,” says McNamara.

Loyola Nursing also runs the Loyola Community Nursing Center, which serves Chicago’s Rogers Park, Uptown, and Edgewater neighborhoods. Meanwhile, partnerships with health care systems including Loyola Medicine, Northwestern Medicine, Near North Health, and Cook County Health offer faculty and students clinical practice opportunities.

The collaboration with Loyola Medicine, for example, now includes an academic practice council, where Loyola Nursing faculty and health system nursing leaders meet regularly to create joint practice and teaching opportunities.

Exploring new paths

These partnerships offer faculty and students the opportunity to explore new paths within the profession and deepen their understanding of the factors that contribute to health equity.

Until taking part in the community nursing rotation at Loyola, “I didn’t realize how many options we have as nurses,” says Rosales, who is considering joining the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service.

That’s the point of partnerships like the one at BEDS Plus, McNamara says.

“It’s a very different experience for the students than if they’re in a hospital,” she says. “This is a firsthand way to meet someone in their current situation and be completely empathetic to their way of living and to partner with them to use community resources to get to a better situation.

“It’s the focus on social determinants of health that gives the nurse an enormous window into the power of nursing.”