Researchers at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) College of Nursing and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have received a $100,000 grant to expand an innovative education program for nurses who care for people with sickle cell disease (SCD) – an inherited illness that affects 100,000 people nationwide.
The grant from Global Blood Therapeutics, Inc. (GBT) allows the researchers to increase the impact of the Sickle Cell Boot Camp to Promote Nursing Excellence that was held in June at UTHSC. Funded through an initial $50,000 grant from GBT, the first boot camp brought 15 nurses to the UTHSC campus to learn best practices to treat sickle cell patients. The expanded program will incorporate a train-the-trainer model allowing for expansion of the program.
The nursing education program is a collaboration between the UTHSC College of Nursing, St. Jude, and the International Association of Sickle Cell Nurses and Professional Associates (IASCNAPA).