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The University of Southern Indiana’s College of Nursing and Health Professions has adopted the Dedicated Education Unit (DEU) model, which is a clinical education partnership with both Evansville hospitals. USI first piloted DEUs in early 2013 at St. Mary’s Medical Center’s Renal and Diabetic Unit (6 West) and Deaconess Hospital’s Oncology-Pulmonary Care Center (Unit 5100).

A DEU is a hospital unit that is dedicated (reserved for) only one school of nursing. The unit staff (not just the RNs) are committed to providing quality clinical education for the students. Students are paired with one particular staff nurse for the entire clinical rotation to ensure consistency with clinical skill progression and to allow the staff nurse to identify the student's learning style and learning needs. DEUs offer “real world” educational experiences by optimizing the expertise of staff nurses and by student clinical placements occurring on all shifts and all days of the week, including weekends.