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Bon Secours Memorial School of Nursing is a post-secondary institute of
education. Its professional school of nursing is the only educational entity
within the third largest healthcare system in the United States. Headquartered
in Marriottsville, Maryland, the school is attached to the Bon Secours Memorial
Regional Medical Center.
Since 1961, more than 1,000 students have graduated from the three-year
Registered Nurse diploma program at the Bon Secours Memorial School of
Nursing. The school’s program prepares students for licensure as registered
nurses and gives students a solid foundation to complete their Bachelor of
Science in Nursing.
The Challenge
Because Bon Secours Memorial School of Nursing is an
accredited institute of education as well as a division of a
corporation, Bon Secours Health Systems, Inc., the federal
government strictly regulates the manner in which
student and patient records are handled. Federal law mandates that
educational data, such as student records, may not be accessed by the parent
organization. So while the parent organization, Bon Secours Health Systems,
Inc. is able to handle its own IT support internally, the School of Nursing cannot
utilize corporate IT support resources because doing so will give the parent
organization technical access to privileged educational data.
The School of Nursing, unable to leverage its corporate office’s large IT support
resources due to federal regulations, therefore requires third-party technical
support. “Because the government mandates that educational information -
software, student records and billing information - must remain separate from
all other company data, we can’t use our parent company’s technical support
staff,” says Alice Cudlipp, Assistant Dean for Administration for Bon Secours
Memorial School of Nursing. “In order to comply, we need to outsource our
technical support.”
The Solution
Bon Secours Memorial School of Nursing retained Nortec to provide IT staffing
support, thereby keeping Nursing School data separate from the corporate
office. The Nortec systems engineer assigned to the School of Nursing, Ken
Pullman, signed a certificate of confidentiality in accordance with federal
regulations, and because of the specialized nature of medical education
software, attended several training courses. “We made an investment in Ken.
Not everybody can work in this environment and learn our specialized and
technical software,” says Cudlipp. “We’re not like any other type of
organization.”
Nortec functions as an entire IT/IS department by helping consultants interface
with Bon Secours Health Systems, Inc., teaches new faculty members how to
use the network and assigns passwords, and works with students and staff. In
addition, Nortec’s systems engineer supports and integrates all of the nursing
school’s highly specialized educational software. “We’re an odd duck to work
with. The fact that our technology has to meet accreditation, combined with
federal financial aid standards and regional accreditations, means that most
organizations don’t have these kind of reporting needs,” says Cudlipp.
Between the School of Nursing’s library computers, computer labs and “smart
classrooms”, Nortec supports approximately 100 seats. Nortec’s engineer
supports the School of Nursing each and every day on a full-time basis. “Ken
and I work together to make sure our infrastructure is in place, but he’s very
much a self-starter. I don’t have to write schedules for him – he just does what
needs to be done,” says Cudlipp.
An example of the specialized nature of the nursing school’s software is its
simulation lab. Computerized mannequins are programmed to react like
human patients, so that students may encounter all manner of diseases,
complications, symptoms, and other variables. Programming the software and
audio mixing these $100,000 mannequins to react like human patients can be
time-intensive, and requires a specialized skill set to ensure that the network
and technology are able to support the lab.
Nortec ensures that the School of Nursing’s more than 100 different types of
software programs, as well as internet and intranet servers, all work together.
Because educational computing is very specialized, Nortec’s systems engineer
Ken Pullman has had to become very familiar with the particulars of each type of software and hardware. “Most IT companies focus on the conventional
systems. But if you can’t integrate them with the software used by the specialized
organizations, it’s worthless. Ken makes sure all of our systems and software
are integrated.”
But working at a school with 571 nursing students and 70 employees means
that IT support extends beyond the computers to interfacing with students,
faculty and staff. While technical ability and certifications are a foundation for
IT/IS support, the ability to relate well to the school’s students and staff that is
critical to getting the job done. “Ken is patient, polite, and professional,” says
Cudlipp. “He’s highly educated, highly trained, and highly skilled – but our
relationship is based on people skills.”
The Benefits
Bon Secours Memorial School of Nursing outsources its IT support in order to
comply with federal regulations pertaining to student and patient data. And
while outsourcing this function satisfies those requirements, the School of
Nursing has realized additional benefits as well. “One of the biggest benefits is
having backup during vacations, or during staff training. We have extra tech
assistance when we need it, or extra help just for a particular project when I
need it, and of course, someone who is trained and certified, and technically
able,” says Cudlipp.
And while the School of Nursing is assigned to one full-time systems engineer,
Nortec ensures that the school will never be without continuous support. “I
know that if Ken gets sick, Nortec will send someone else. Anything I need, all I
have to do is call and Nortec makes sure all bases are covered,” says Cudlipp.
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