Challenges of Extending Department-Community Partnership Successes Across the Institution

Abstract

The marriage of nursing education with community issues and dynamics is, at least, an awkward task and, at best, an untested opportunity. The successes and lessons learned in creating and maintaining an urban nursing center are provided as encouragement to others to dream, to risk valuable resources, and, with time, to realize outcomes which may far surpass expectations. The challenges of translating one department's experience with a community partnership into the context of other academic departments is discussed.