The Ruth Sleeper Nursing Center for Clinical Education and Wellness

Get the free, extra support you need for healthier living

MGH Institute's IMPACT Practice Center is the home to the Ruth Sleeper Nursing Center for Clinical Education and Wellness, a nurse-led screening, referral, education, and support resource for Charlestown and Greater Boston-area residents. The Center also oversees the community service students within the School of Nursing perform as part of their studies.

Free support services are provided by MGH Institute Nurse Practitioner students, under the supervision of licensed faculty.

Services at the Nursing Center

In these times of COVID-19, we invite you to participate in Virtual Visits with our nurse practitioner students. We are conducting sessions in:

Visits are based on the individual, and may include:

Living with chronic conditions

Diabetes
High blood pressure
Heart problems
Respiratory issues

Achieving better health and well-being

Weight management • Nutrition
Stress • Grieving
Sleep • Aging well
Wellness assessments • 1-on-1 supportive mental health counseling

The Nursing Center provides a wide variety of ongoing services, augmenting your current care. Choose the services that best suit your needs. When not delivered by telehealth, care is provided in a supportive, nurturing environment in a state-of-the-art facility.

Screenings and referrals
Coaching and consultation
Groups, classes, and workshops
One-on-one follow-up

Community Engagement and Impact

Community outreach is an integral part of our graduate programs' curricula. Service learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, encourage civic engagement, and strengthen communities. Recent student outreach projects include:

ABSN students at Harvard-Kent Elementary School in Charlestown
ABSN students community assessment and programs for the National Park Service in Charlestown Navy Yard
See other student outreach projects.

Image of ABSN students working out with Parks Services employees

Center Clients

Client

Zeny and Alan

"My husband and I are most appreciative and deeply grateful to the students and their guiding teachers and supervisors for training them on the right path to be future health professionals in the medical field."

Why did you come to the center?

We are senior citizens and due to aging, we were suffering from medical issues that needed oftentimes urgent care and to supplement our primary care from the MGH Charlestown Branch. At the center, students help the community, especially in terms of resources and services badly needed by retirees. We avail the in-person primary care, assistance on chronic conditions of high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis through weekly check-ups. It helped me manage my stress and sleeping problems, as well as provided me with physical therapy exercises for my arthritis in my shoulder and knees.

Would you recommend the center to people you know?

Yes. They always have a ready answer to my health questions and they have helped me a lot in learning the common aches and pains in my body.

a man and woman stand behind one another next to an exam table

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Faculty Supervisors at the Ruth Sleeper Nursing Center

The Ruth Sleeper Nursing Center for Clinical Education and Wellness is part of the School of Nursing, which is housed within the Dr. Charles and Ann Sanders IMPACT Practice Center.

Clinicians in the Center are graduate students in the Master of Science in Nursing/Nurse Practitioner program who provide screening, referral, education, and support resource for Charlestown and Greater Boston-area residents. Our clinicians are mentored by certified and licensed faculty members of the School of Nursing who closely supervise all sessions.

Supervisors in the Ruth Sleeper Nursing Center

Kathy Sabo, MS, RN, Director of the Ruth Sleeper Nursing Center, supervises ABSN community health students working with the National Parks Service.

Elyse Goodman, NP, supervises the Adult/ Gerontology and Primary Care NP students who examine, and provide health teaching and resources to clients at the Nursing Center.

Sheila Swales, MS, RN, PMHNP-BC, supervises the mental health NP students in providing supportive counseling with clients at the Nursing Center.

Mission and Goal

Mission

Improve the quality of life in our communities by engaging its members in high quality, culturally responsive activities that provide education and promote health and wellness.

Goal

Develop a safe learning environment built on the foundation of nursing education that fosters student instruction, engages faculty in practice, service and scholarship and enhances community engagement for the School of Nursing.

Ruth Sleeper

The Center is named for Ruth Sleeper – a remarkable woman. She was a pioneer in transforming nursing education from what Mass General Hospital historian Sylvia Perkins called “essentially a by-product of serving the Hospital,” to a solid foundation for the emerging profession. Her visionary plan and determined advocacy for expanded academic preparation paved the way for the current nursing programs at MGH Institute of Health Professions.

Her devotion to students was evident in that she was equally focused on the professional development of the MGH School of Nursing students by teaching interactive classes to first and third year students. She helped lead the way in transforming nursing education by greatly expanding classroom instruction. She also made time to provide individual guidance and mentorship to students and graduates. Miss Sleeper was a national leader in nursing education who helped raise academic standards for the nursing profession.