Nursing Receives New Grant

KEENE, TEX. – Southwestern Adventist University’s nursing department is thrilled to announce the approval of a grant from the Ardmore Institute of Health. The grant will give the department an opportunity to develop a whole-person wellness certificate program for student nurses and nurses currently in practice. With this initial $80,000 grant, the nursing department will start the work of identifying core content that will guide the creation of the certification curriculum.

The grant will enable nursing students and practicing nurses to receive further training and certification in areas pertaining to physical, mental, social and spiritual health.

The curriculum will incorporate the work accomplished by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and include concepts identified in CREATION Health principles, such as Choice, Rest, Environment, and Outlook. The intent is that this content can be incorporated into nursing curricula or used by a healthcare organization or individual nurse for professional development and practice enhancement. The project is unique in that it will place a nursing practice perspective on lifestyle management and spiritual care concerns in promoting optimum health for patients.

“We are delighted to receive this funding as it provides a prime opportunity to collaborate with organizations that are invested in excellence in nursing practice with an emphasis on addressing whole person well-being,” says Dr. Terri Gibson, Wellness Counts director and nursing professor at Southwestern.

By Darcy Force