Ascension Saint Thomas Foundations

The filing organization is a part of the Ascension catholic Health ministry. Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization that delivers personalized, compassionate care to all, especially to those who need it the most. During fy23 Ascension Saint Thomas Foundation embarked on a project to support the development of a new, technologically integrated advanced learning center on the campus of Ascension Saint Thomas west hospital. The advanced learning center will serve all of our 9 ast hospitals across middle Tennessee by creating a centralized home for nurse training. These vital healthcare workers are required to have some onsite clinical experiences as a part of their education. But rather than just facilitate clinical rotations with visiting students, Ascension Saint Thomas sees the unique opportunity to create an extension of the college experience on our medical campus. Utilizing existing raw space in the basement/ground level of Saint Thomas west, we will create classrooms, computer labs, simulation rooms, de-briefing rooms, and community space for those seeking to gain or advance their nursing degree. In part due to expedited nursing programs and due to the pandemic, we've recognized many students are deficient in real-world clinical experience. The center ensures that students have relevant training and simulation exposure to prepare them to provide the very best care to patients. The center will have multiple simulation manikins which promote clinical skills, cognitive thinking and behavioral communication in a professional healthcare setting. Integrated technology will allow students to view things such as live medical procedures beamed from an Ascension operating room to provide unparalleled exposure to the environment a nurse will be working. The center will allow us to connect with our learners like never before, giving these students the opportunity to connect with our healthcare system, assimilate with our staff and to gain valuable exposure to our medical leaders in a deeper and more enriching way. To best serve the community and the individual needs of students in our community, the advanced learning center strives to serve at all levels, from entry level to advanced training to support anyone who wants to fulfill their personal ambitions of working in the healthcare environment. The advanced learning center will serve those who may begin with introductory patient care technician training all the way to advanced practice nurses. As associates of Ascension, they will also be eligible for scholarships made possible through philanthropic support and the Foundation. The advanced learning center is an innovative approach to attract, retain and build lasting professional relationships with entry level healthcare workers, new nursing graduates as well as adult learners returning to school to seek advanced education. In doing so, we create a pipeline of qualified and capable nurses who have been exposed to the culture and value system of Ascension Saint Thomas. We aim to build a pipeline of qualified nurses who feel called to serve and relate and identify with our faith-based mission and core values. The center will become a physical home to the existing network of educational institutions we work with and allow us to expand with a new four-year nursing school program currently being developed with trevecca university. Today, Ascension Saint Thomas has relationships with more than a dozen schools of nursing. Many, such as lipscomb, belmont, cumberland, tsu, and mtsu utilize our facilities for required clinical rotations, giving those students and instructors a day or series of exposures with our working nurses. We also partner with technical schools such as nashville state for pcts (patient care technicians) and clinical support positions which gives an opportunity for entry level individuals interested in healthcare to find a home at Saint Thomas. For almost a decade we have partnered with marion university which offers a second-degree program for adult learners advancing their education. Finally, a new partnership with trevecca university currently underway to help launch their four-year nursing school next fall is currently being planned which would give us exclusive access to their students needing a clinical home.