In eight years, the Precious Prints Project has brought comfort to more than 950 Knoxville-area families who have experienced the loss of a child. Now a new partnership will take the project beyond East Tennessee.
The Precious Prints Project comforts grieving families with a sterling silver pendant bearing the fingerprint of their child. The project was developed at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Nursing in partnership with Precious Metal Prints, a local business. First launched at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in January 2012, it has expanded to include all major health systems in Knox County, with fundraising and project management handled by the Student Nurses Association.
In response to wide-ranging inquiries from organizations interested in establishing a similar program, Dean Victoria Niederhauser and Clinical Instructor Lynne Miller developed a plan to take the Precious Prints Project to a national level. They developed two models of delivery—one for nursing schools and one for health care facilities.
Following months of planning, the UT Student Nurses Association is excited to welcome Union University Hendersonville College of Nursing as their first academic partner. Union will expand the project to the Nashville area as nursing students from both universities work together to implement the project.
Nursing faculty and student representatives from Union University recently visited UT to learn strategies for implementation, best practices, how to conduct staff education and training, and to visit one of UT’s partnering hospitals to learn about the process first-hand.
To learn more about the Precious Prints project, contact Lynne Miller at lmille44@utk.edu.