Hold That TIGER! A Collaborative Service-Learning Academic-Practice Partnership With Rural Healthcare Facilities

Observing a renewed focus on community engagement as part of our university's strategic plan and the experiential learning partnerships encouraged by the TIGER (Technology and Information Guiding Education Reform) Initiative in health information technology, an academic-practice partnership was initiated between a group of Midwestern rural hospitals and a university's advanced practice nursing students via the graduate online nursing informatics course. Using a service-learning approach, the course features an emphasis on the collaborative design and implementation of student- and healthcare provider team-driven projects to support rural hospital staff and administrators in meeting the broad spectrum of challenges they face every day. The author discusses the adaptable course outline of foundational and service-learning course activities, recent service-learning projects and outcomes, and results of a cumulative 2-year course evaluation by internal/external stakeholders.