Southwestern Adventist University’s Nursing Department is thrilled to announce the approval of a grant from the Ardmore Institute of Health. The grant will give the nursing department an opportunity to develop a whole-person wellness certificate program for student nurses and nurses currently in practice. With this initial $80,000 grant, the nursing department will start the work of identifying core content that will guide the creation of the certification curriculum.

“The Ardmore Institute of Health is pleased to support the work of Southwestern’s Nursing Department,” says Kevin Brown, president and CEO of Ardmore Institute of Health. “It is our hope that through their efforts on this project, the door will be opened to a large number of nurses to learn about Lifestyle Medicine themes during their training.”

The Ardmore Institute of Health grant will enable nursing students and practicing nurses to receive further training and certification in areas pertaining to physical, mental, social, and spiritual health, with emphasis on lifestyle management and nursing practice.

The curriculum will incorporate the work accomplished by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and include concepts identified in CREATION Health principles, such as Choice, Rest, Environment, and Outlook. The intent is that this content can be incorporated into nursing curricula or used by a health care organization or individual nurse for professional development and practice enhancement.

The project is unique in that it will place a nursing practice perspective on lifestyle management and spiritual care concerns in promoting optimum health for patients.

“We are delighted to receive this funding as it provides a prime opportunity to collaborate with organizations that are invested in excellence in nursing practice with an emphasis on addressing whole person well-being.” says Dr. Terri Gibson, Wellness Counts director and nursing professor at Southwestern. “There is a real need for nurses to understand the correlation between mental, spiritual, and physical health, and how to help patients achieve optimal wellness. With this certification, our nursing graduates and others will be even better prepared to serve their patients."

Previously, the Ardmore Institute of Health granted the Nursing Department $62,000 in 2017 to start the Wellness Counts program to provide health and lifestyle education and activities for the local Johnson County community. The program continues to thrive.

For more information, visit swau.edu/wellnesscounts or follow the program on Facebook.