A nursing update course. Service and education collaborate.

This article describes the planning, development, implementation and evaluation of a nursing update course. It identifies collaboration between a hospital and college as the key element in the program's success. Evaluation showed the program was effective in recruiting and educating students; it helped alleviate a local nursing shortage and brought nursing practice and education together, and 87% of the course participants either returned to practice or entered formal education programs to continue their professional development.