Planning meetings and debriefing sessions took place as needed. The course's speakers included clinical experts from the hospital, local physicians' offices, the school of pharmacy, and college of nursing. Students are sought from a wide geographic area using dedicated mailings to registered nurses in targeted zip codes. The students' different experiences facilitate learning and allow a feeling of teamwork to develop between hospital nurses and those practicing in ambulatory settings. All the students have knowledge and experience in cardiovascular nursing.
Students take the course for continuing education or academic credit.
The participating hospital, an approved continuing education provider, issues 40 education units for the course. Montana State University-Bozeman College of Nursing awards 3 units of academic credit for the course. Nurses who plan to attend baccalaureate or master's programs apply the units as elective credits to their course work. The course includes classroom lectures and clinical experiences. After an overview of the course, the first session covers diagnostic testing, including exercise stress testing, nuclear medicine scans, and echocardiography.