title: The Nursing Fellowship: innovation in staff development.
abstract: The Nursing Fellowship is an example of a staff development program developed to meet the current day needs of nurses and hospitals. Across the country, hospitals are confronted with a paucity of specialty-prepared registered nurses. The Fellowships prepare RNs for certification examinations offered by the national specialty organizations. The Fellowships are under the umbrella of the Institute for Advanced Nursing Clinical Education and include: Oncology, Critical Care, Gerontology, Psychiatry, Medical Surgical, Perinatal and Perioperative Nursing. They are didactic and clinical and are developed and led by Master's-prepared clinical nurse specialists who are certified in the specialty area. The Fellowships continue to evolve but appear both subjectively and objectively to be successful in increasing knowledge in the specialty area. Early evaluation of the Fellowships suggests they may be an important tool for recruitment purposes and in retention of nursing staff.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Schmidt-Luggen
authors: M F
authors: MF
authors: Schaller
mesh_terms: D002568:Certification; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing; D006801:Humans; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D013041:Specialties, Nursing; D013192:Staff Development / Q000379:methods*