In nursing education, program leaders face no shortage of complexity. Tracking hours, managing placements, securing preceptors, and preparing for audits are just a few of the critical responsibilities on their plates. These processes not only strain staff but also directly impact student outcomes and accreditation confidence.
In a recent webinar, I had the opportunity to speak with two of our nursing partners who are tackling these challenges head-on: Simmons University and The George Washington University (GWU).
Their stories speak volumes about the real impact a flexible, centralized platform like CORE ELMS can have on day-to-day operations and long-term results.
This post highlights their key wins, takeaways, and advice for programs looking to modernize clinical education.
The Challenge: Manual Chaos in a High-Stakes Environment
Before CORE, both institutions were relying heavily on paper and fragmented systems to manage clinical operations.
“I'm sure many institutions still do... we were surviving off paper, and I have stacks of paper in my office behind me that you can't see of evaluations and evaluations and evaluations.” — Isabelle Milne, Director of Prelicensure Nursing Clinical Education, Simmons University
At GWU, coordinating both graduate and undergraduate tracks added further complexity.
“We really rely on our site prospector submission form for a transparent process for everyone involved... it lets students and faculty know exactly where they stand in the placement process.”
— Angelina Rimmler, Director of Clinical Placement and Compliance, GWU
The Solution: A Structured Yet Flexible Approach
Both teams emphasized a phased approach to implementation. Rather than attempting to transform every workflow at once, they started with high-impact areas such as evaluations and hours tracking. From there, they expanded into placements, compliance, and reporting.
“How do you eat an elephant? A little bit at a time... there are so many things you can do in CORE. You've just got to do it a little bit at a time.” — Angelina Rimmler, GWU
This step-by-step method helped both teams build internal buy-in and ensured they could continue scaling with confidence.
Key Wins: ROI in Time, Visibility, and Accreditation Readiness
1. Early Risk Identification
At Simmons, rolling out recurring weekly evaluations has been a game changer for early intervention.
“It’s allowed us to identify at-risk students as early as week one or week two in the clinical semester. And we’ve been able to work with them to move to an area where they can meet their competencies and progress through the program.”— Isabelle Milne, Simmons
The program also introduced student self-evaluations to encourage reflection and improve accountability.
“Now [students] are able to see the feedback that they’re getting from their instructors. As soon as their instructor says ‘submit,’ they’re able to look at that evaluation... and kind of engage in some reflection.”
2. Accreditation Confidence
Both institutions recently underwent accreditation reviews, and both relied on CORE’s reporting capabilities to streamline their preparation.
“We just had our CCNE accreditation visit. CORE being able to pull reports, past and current information, was so vital... versus what we had originally, which was a lot of manual data, and not always accurate.”
— Angelina Rimmler, GWU
“We can just, with a click of a button, pull the report in the format that the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing wants it. That has been absolutely huge for us in terms of efficiency in preparation for site visits.”— Isabelle Milne, Simmons
3. No More Missing Evaluations
To reduce preceptor login friction, Simmons enabled evaluation links to be completed without requiring a system login. This resulted in significant improvements in turnaround.
“We’ve gotten such an amazing turnaround on our evaluations switching to this system. We’re not losing papers. We’re not forgetting to submit it to Moodle.” — Isabelle Milne, Simmons
Advice for Other Nursing Programs
Both leaders echoed the importance of starting small, building strategically, and focusing on continuous improvement.
“You can do so much in CORE... but if you wanna do everything right now, it can be very overwhelming.”
— Angelina Rimmler, GWU
“We’ve really rolled it out piece by piece... that has helped us digest and really make this an effective system so we can stick with it and keep improving.”— Isabelle Milne, Simmons
Final Takeaway: CORE is Built With Nursing, Not Just For Nursing
CORE ELMS was not built solely for nursing programs, but it has been shaped by them. Through one-on-one feedback sessions and guidance from our Nursing Advisory Board, we have aligned our platform with the unique workflows, language, and compliance needs of nursing education.
As I shared during the session: “The biggest takeaway is that CORE is built to match the complexity of nursing education... Whether you're managing hundreds of prelicensure students or coordinating advanced practice placements, it’s configurable to how your team works.” — Kaleigh Larson, Client Success Manager, CORE
Want to Hear the Full Conversation?
Watch the on-demand webinar to hear the full discussion with Simmons and GWU, or schedule a walkthrough to explore how CORE could support your program’s clinical education needs.
Kaleigh Larson
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