The fourth Sickle Cell Boot Camp to Promote Nursing Excellence at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center will draw 31 nurses to Memphis from as far away as Tanzania April 8-12. This marks a continuing expansion of an innovative program that trains nurses in the care of patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), hosted by the UT Health Science Center College of Nursing and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Established in 2022 as a pilot program, the SCD Nursing Boot Camp is the first national intensive nursing program of its kind, with about 40 hours of educational content. The fourth boot camp will bring the number of nurses educated in SCD care to 120. The program allows nurses to gain theoretical and clinical expertise in the care of patients with SCD. The boot camp’s curriculum was developed in partnership with St. Jude and the International Association of Sickle Cell Nurses and Professional Associates (IASCNAPA).
The College of Nursing hosts two weeklong boot camps each year and is expanding its education about SCD to providers in areas of high need locally, as well. SCD education is vital for nurses and those who are on the front lines of health care, said Professor Sara Day, PhD, RN, FAAN. “Patients with SCD can rapidly develop life-threatening complications, some of which are unique to SCD. If nurses do not have the specialized knowledge and assessment skills to detect these symptoms early, the patient’s condition often escalates and can result in death,” Dr. Day said.
The first three boot camps were funded through grants from Global Blood Therapeutics, Inc. (GBT). The upcoming boot camp is supported by a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The $364,502 USDA grant will also allow for specialized education outreach to health care professionals in the Mid-South Delta region to improve care for patients with SCD. Through this grant, the College of Nursing will collaborate with St. Jude and Baptist Memorial Health Care to reach 240 health care professionals over the next two years, including health care providers of both primary and emergency care. The most recent educational outreach took place in Covington, Tennessee, where educators worked with about 15 providers on March 28.
Arlisa Armstrong, Tennessee Rural Development State Director for the USDA, will speak at the April boot camp. “We are excited to have had the opportunity to partner with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center on a Delta Health Care Services Grant to provide funds for technical assistance and training to combat sickle cell disease in the Delta Region,” she said. “These investments are foundational to a healthy society and vibrant rural communities. We know that when we invest in these projects, we build opportunity and prosperity for the people who call rural communities home.”
An abbreviated SCD Boot Camp focusing on health care providers in Lauderdale County will be held June 17-18. The two-day educational program will bring more than 20 providers to Memphis for two days of intensive instruction funded through a $3.98 million Health Resource and Services Administration (HRSA) grant to the College of Nursing to increase access to health care in Lauderdale and Lake counties. The grant supports the UT Health Science Center Nursing Mobile Health Unit, which is dedicated to patients in those counties. Not long after the mobile unit began service, providers realized they were seeing patients with SCD in Lauderdale County.
Dr. Day said all these efforts are important to help patients who live with the complex issues of SCD. The disease is an inherited blood disorder that affects about 100,000 people in the United States, including 2,000 in the Mid-South. Among newborn births screened, Mississippi has the second highest incidence of sickle cell disease among infants in the nation. People of African descent make up 90% of the population with sickle cell disease in the U.S. It also affects people of Hispanic, South Asian, Southern European, and Middle Eastern ancestry.
“Partnering with UT Health Science Center and contributing to the development and sponsorship of this program has been extremely gratifying and productive,” said Yvonne Carroll, director of patient services for the Department of Hematology at St. Jude. “More than 15 St. Jude nurses have completed the course so far, and we anticipate even greater attendance in future sessions.”