An employee team from the School of Nursing won the 2025 Presidential Innovation Award for their work on the clinical placement and compliance process for the on-campus bachelor’s of nursing program.
The clinical placement and compliance process is complex. Clinicals are the experiential learning part of nursing education; students are placed under the supervision of local nurses who provide hands-on guidance and instruction in places like hospitals, clinics and schools. Compliance refers to requirements by the clinical site that students must complete before working there, such as vaccine history or training videos.
The old process of assigning students to clinicals and tracking them through compliance was manual and inefficient for everyone involved. In contrast, the new process consolidates information in a simpler, user-friendly digital system. It increases clarity and efficiency through organization and tracking tools, and includes more communication with students along the way.
Students can now get notifications on next-steps or to-do items throughout the process. They also get notified of their placement location sooner than they used to, which is a priority for students; they are often eager to know where they’re placed.
“The Clinical Compliance Leadership Team has redefined what’s possible in nursing education,” said Angie Phillips, interim associate divisional dean of the School of Nursing. “Their bold transformation of clinical placement and compliance—from a fragmented system to a fully integrated, data-driven platform—has not only expanded student capacity but has also slashed compliance issues and streamlined faculty workload. Their work is a model of innovation, enabling students, faculty and clinical partners to thrive through clarity, consistency and unmatched efficiency.”
The employee team includes Rachael Bledsoe, Theresa Grace, Kaylin Holmquist, Candice Johnson, and clinical assistant professor Brittany Watson.