Visiting Nurse Services of Newport & Bristol Counties (VNS) have received grants from the van Beuren Charitable Foundation and the Rhode Island Foundation for support of a collaborative pilot project. VNS professional staff will be training in behavioral health and Newport County Community Mental Health Center (NCCMHC) nursing staff will be training in chronic medical disease management.
This pilot project for professional staff development of both healthcare organizations for better knowledge and skill with each other’s discipline will formalize and strengthen both organizations for better patient outcomes.
The pilot will include six hours of classroom and computer training for 10 nurses from NCCMHC and include most commonly seen chronic medical disease management issues (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, mental disorders, and pulmonary conditions). This course will be taught by Susan Dugan, Director of Quality at VNS. Reciprocally, VNS nurses, social workers and therapists will participate in eight hours of training in the most common behavioral health conditions (substance abuse, stress, psychiatric medications, and dementia) taught by Mary Jane Creely, VP of Nursing for Newport County Community Mental Health Center.
