Nursing Professional Development
Experienced Nurses. Lifelong Learning Opportunities.
Nurses are accountable for pursuing lifelong learning opportunities to maintain and increase their ongoing competence. Boston Medical Center (BMC) is dedicated to providing high quality education to support this goal. Nursing research and evidence-based practice is emphasized. Quality improvement initiatives and clinical research studies support best practices at the bedside.
What We Offer
- Frequent in-service education modules provided by unit-specific clinical educators
- A rich assortment of continuing education programs for professional growth and development
- Hands-on skills and simulation-based education
NPD Team
The Nursing Professional Development (NPD) team is comprised of nurse educators who are experts in their clinical specialty. This team includes both unit-based and centralized educators who plan and implement a myriad of educational opportunities.
Unit-Based Education
Competency-based orientation is offered to each new nurse, with an assigned clinical preceptor and supervision by the unit-based clinical Nursing Professional Development Specialist as needed.
Competency eLearning modules may be used to meet nurses’ need for a more flexible learning approach.
Programs
Consortia Programs
- Boston Critical Care Consortium
- Emergency/Trauma Medicine Boston Consortium
- Boston Collaborative Learning Group for Preceptors/Coaches
- Chemotherapy Consortium of Boston
Career Development Programs
- Scholarships: Available to assist nurses who are pursuing higher education in degree programs or taking classes related to nursing to further achievement of professional goals.
- Tuition Reimbursement: Available for courses taken outside the institution or for the pursuit of advanced degrees in the healthcare arena.
- Specialty Certification: Staff are encouraged to become certified in their specialty areas, such as oncology-certified nursing, med-surg, critical care, and emergency nursing.
Continuing Education Programs
Generic and specialty programs are offered throughout the year. Nurses have the opportunity to attend classroom programs on site, within the Boston community (consortia), and via a web-based education system. Programs offered include:
- Annual Integrative Nursing Conference
- Basic Dysrhythmias
- Communication-based programs: Advanced care planning
- PALS/ACLS/BLS
- Preceptor Workshop
- Quality and safety rounds
- Reiki, Resiliency, and Aromatherapy
- Schwartz Rounds
- Simulation-based team trainings: BESTT, OB, ED Trauma Team
- TNCC
- Trauma Care Everywhere
- Understanding and responding to domestic and sexual violence
Student Clinical Placement
BMC is a Level 1 Trauma center with the busiest emergency department in New England. We serve a culturally diverse patient population. Many of our patients experience social determinants impacting their health and BMC seeks to empower patients to achieve their best state of health.
The Department of Nursing and our entire staff of over 1,700 RNs are committed to mentoring future nurses. Our institution hosts hundreds of nursing students and clinical faculty members each year as part of the professional learning process.
BMC belongs to the Massachusetts Centralized Clinical Placement (CCP) System and all affiliated institutions should request placements for their students using this site.
If you are in school and not currently affiliated with BMC, and are seeking an experience as a student, the first step is to establish an affiliation agreement. Contact the Clinical Placement Coordinator at the email address below to initiate this process. Once agreements are in place, a clinical placement can occur.
BMC places students in groups with a qualified clinical instructor on medical-surgical, critical care, pediatric, and maternity units. We do not currently place groups in the ambulatory setting, emergency department, or perioperative areas.
Undergraduate (unlicensed) senior students are placed throughout the institution 1:1 with a staff nurse. These students will be assigned a staff nurse based on availability. All undergraduate senior experiences need to be requested via CCP.
Graduate nurses in masters, NP, and doctoral programs can also request a placement in their preferred specialty area. Graduate students must identify and confirm a preceptor before their school enters the request (via CCP).
Required Documentation
All students and instructors need documentation submitted on their behalf by the school prior to the start of each semester/clinical experience:
- Health Immunization status, including dates of recent PPDs (2-step method), influenza vaccinations, and other required titers/vaccinations (form available on the CCP website)
- Registration form to obtain an ID for the experience (form available on the CCP website)
- Verification of completion of the orientation modules
Additional Requirements for Nursing Instructors
- New external candidates need to submit, via their school, a copy of their CV or resume to ensure that their clinical experience matches our institutional values.
- New external candidates need to attend EHR training (two 4-hour sessions) in the EHR system used by BMC (EPIC).
- All new external candidates must spend at least one shift on the assigned unit to orient to the unit specifics and the patient-specific population, protocols, and teams.
- All instructors must successfully complete all assigned modules in the eLearning platform initially and ongoing. Included are a math med test on hire, PYXIS tutorial, and unit-specific modules, as well as annual modules for returning instructors.
- Attend any mandatory meetings at BMC as needed.
For specific questions about student placement, please email the Student Placement Coordinator at NursingStudentPlacement@bmc.org.