Discover effective collaboration in nursing education with Heidi Keeler, PhD, MSN/MBA, RN, lead principal investigator of the Midwest Clinical Instruction Regional Network (MCIRN). Heidi shares her journey from clinical care to professional development, highlighting how regional partnerships are enhancing preceptor proficiency and patient outcomes across Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas.

Learn about the vital role of preceptor development in retaining new nurses and how MCIRN’s Process Precept program is leading the way. Discover the collaborative efforts of stakeholders like the Nebraska Hospital Association and Nebraska Rural Health Association in creating a sustainable nursing education structure. Heidi explains the importance of realistic, application-based training for mastering preceptorship and the difference between mentoring and coaching in nursing.

Explore the innovative training resources MCIRN offers, including live sessions, multimedia content, and interactive videos. Heidi and Nicole discuss plans for a comprehensive fellowship program that emphasizes leadership and practical challenges. Tune in to see how their efforts are enhancing nursing education and fostering a professional identity that addresses issues like incivility in nursing. This episode is essential for anyone interested in the future of nursing education and professional development.

SPECIAL GUEST: Dr. Heidi Keeler is an associate professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). She received her BSN from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA, a dual MSN/MBA from Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA, and her PhD in nursing research from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

Dr. Keeler is interested in the nursing workforce and professional development using entrepreneurial and innovative solutions. She is the director of the UNMC College of Nursing Continuing interProfessional Development and Innovation (CiPDI) office, which specializes in producing live and online educational products for the healthcare team. She serves as lead faculty on the Gerontological Nurse Prep Course, designed to train nurses to attain board certification in gerontological nursing. This has increased the number of board-certified nurses by over 6 percent nationally.

Dr. Keeler serves as the UNMC assistant vice chancellor for community engagement and ensures that UNMC provides a supportive system for maintaining reciprocal and mutually beneficial community partnerships. Dr. Keeler is interested in aligning professional development with academic continuums and community engagement to address the nursing workforce, with her most recent funding targeting preceptor and clinical faculty systems regionally.

She is the Program Director of a four-year grant to improve preceptor and clinical instructor training, awarded by the Nurse Education Practice Quality and Retention: Clinical Faculty and Preceptor Academy project within the Health Resources and Services Administration. This grant has produced the Midwest Clinical Instructor Regional Network and provides Process Precept training to nurses across Region 7 (IA, NE, KS, MO).

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