Nursing Unit

UAlbany provides robust clinical experiences to prepare you for the multifaceted demands of modern health care. Our hands-on laboratory experiences are meticulously designed to cultivate essential skills and competencies vital for nursing practice.

You’ll undergo rigorous validations in critical areas such as handwashing protocols, personal protective equipment (PPE) application, sterile technique, medication administration, NG tube placement, central line dressing changes, catheterization, and comprehensive head-to-toe assessments. These simulations take place in a controlled environment, ensuring a safe and supportive atmosphere conducive to learning and skill mastery.

Clinical Partnerships

1. St. Peter’s Health Partners
   • Collaborate with a leading health care provider offering diverse clinical settings for hands-on learning and professional development opportunities.
2. Albany Medical Center
   • Partner with a renowned academic medical center providing advanced clinical training in various specialties, fostering a comprehensive learning experience.
3. Albany Department of Health
   • Engage with local public health initiatives and gain practical experience in community health and epidemiology under the guidance of public health professionals.
4. Schenectady Department of Health
   • Participate in community health initiatives and programs aimed at improving public health outcomes in Schenectady, gaining insights into population health management.
      

Bedside Clinical Experiences and Transition to Practice

Beyond the classroom, you’ll engage in immersive clinical rotations where you actively participate in patient care under the guidance of seasoned health care professionals. This hands-on approach allows you to navigate patient loads, experience care transitions firsthand, and collaborate effectively within interdisciplinary teams.

By integrating theory with practice in diverse clinical settings, including inpatient and outpatient facilities, you’ll gain invaluable insights and proficiency necessary for the RN role.

Elevated Clinical Experiences

Our comprehensive curriculum encompasses a wide array of clinical rotations across various specialties, ensuring a well-rounded nursing education. You’ll gain practical experience in:

• Behavioral Health: Assessing and managing mental health needs.
• Critical Care: Providing intensive care to critically ill patients.
• Emergency Room Care: Responding to urgent medical situations with precision and urgency.
• Geriatrics: Addressing the unique health care challenges of older adults.
• Obstetrics: Supporting women through prenatal, labor, and postpartum care.
• Medical-Surgical: Participating in perioperative and medical-surgical nursing.
• Pediatrics: Caring for children and adolescents across developmental stages.
• Rehabilitation: Assisting patients in recovery and rehabilitation processes.
• Leadership and Management: Developing leadership skills essential for nursing practice.
• Community and Public Health: Engaging in initiatives that promote community health and well-being.

Graduate-Level Clinical Experiences

As a graduate student, you’ll benefit from a range of clinical placements, including paid and voluntary internships in public health settings. These experiences empower nurses to apply advanced knowledge in addressing public health challenges, such as advocating for health policies, conducting health screenings, and collaborating with community stakeholders to improve health outcomes.

You’ll emerge from our program equipped to lead and innovate in health care settings, making meaningful contributions to community health and public health initiatives.

Through these diverse and immersive clinical experiences, you’ll develop not only clinical expertise but also a deep commitment to patient-centered care and community health advocacy, ensuring you’ll excel as a compassionate and competent nursing professional in a rapidly evolving health care landscape.

Best Practices: Research Integration for Quality Improvement and Community Impact

At the University at Albany, we are committed to equipping you with robust research skills and experiences that empower you to drive positive change in health care and community settings.

Our curriculum integrates research classes and initiatives to prepare students to initiate quality improvement projects and conduct impactful research across diverse health care domains.

Research Integration in Nursing Education

You’ll engage in rigorous research coursework that emphasizes evidence-based practice and quality improvement methodologies. Through these classes, you’ll develop essential skills in literature review, data analysis, research design and interpretation of findings. This foundation enables you to critically evaluate health care practices and implement evidence-based interventions aimed at enhancing patient outcomes and community health.

Student-Based Research Initiatives

Our nursing students actively contribute to research initiatives that address pressing health care challenges and promote health equity. Some notable student-led research initiatives include:

• Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP): Investigating strategies to reduce VAP rates through improved infection control measures and ventilator management protocols.
• Reduction of Infections in Neonatal Patients: Studying interventions to decrease infection rates in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) through enhanced hand hygiene practices and antimicrobial stewardship.
• Community-Based Exercise Programs: Designing and evaluating exercise programs tailored to address sedentary lifestyles and promote physical activity within local communities.
• Community Health Screenings: Conducting screenings and assessments to identify prevalent health issues in underserved populations and connecting individuals with appropriate health care resources.
• Climate Change and Health: Exploring the intersection of climate change and public health, studying the impacts on vulnerable populations and developing mitigation strategies.

Impact on Patient Care and Community Health

Through these research initiatives, UAlbany nursing students contribute valuable insights and innovations that directly impact patient care quality and community health outcomes. By applying research findings to practice, you’ll play a pivotal role in improving health care

delivery, enhancing preventive care strategies and addressing health disparities within diverse community settings.
 

Preparing Future Nurse Leaders

UAlbany nurtures a culture of inquiry and innovation among our nursing students, preparing you to lead change and advance nursing practice. Our commitment to research excellence ensures that graduates are equipped to initiate and sustain quality improvement initiatives, advocate for evidence-based health care policies and contribute to the broader advancement of nursing science and patient care outcomes.