Patient Safety Task Force A wide array of publications has cited the need to expand the ability of health care professionals to address concerns related to patient safety, performance improvement, and quality in health care. AACN standards for baccalaureate and master's degree nursing education include extensive focus on the competencies that nursing professionals should acquire to address these concerns. Charge: Review of the two essentials documents which frame baccalaureate and graduate nursing education. Identification of those competencies embedded in these documents which nursing professionals must acquire to assure the delivery of safe, high quality, and competent nursing care. Comparison of these competencies to other nationally recognized competencies for health professionals including those embedded in the IOM Chasm reports and those identified by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Presentation to the membership of AACN of the essential, core competencies that should be achieved by professional nurses to assure high quality and safe patient care. Please address your comments to either the task force chair or AACN staff liaison noted. Nancy DeBasio, PhD, RN, Chair Research College of Nursing 2300 East Meyer Blvd. Room 100 Kansas City, MO 64132 816-995-2810 Nancy.DeBasio@researchcollege.edu Rita D'Aoust, MS, RN, ACNP University of Rochester Box SON 601 Elmwood Avenue Rochester, NY 14642 585-275-8887 rita_daoust@urmc.rochester.edu Mary Hill, DSN, RN Alcorn State University School of Nursing 15 Campus Drive, Po Box 18399 Natchez, MS 39122 601-304-4302 mhill@alcorn.edu Maryjoan Ladden, PhD, RN, CS Harvard Medical School Dept. of Ambulatory Care 133 Brookline Ave, 6th Floor Boston, MA 02215 617-509-9941 maryjoan_ladden@hphc.org Kathy McGuinn, Staff Liaison Director of Special Projects 202-463-6930 x262 kmcguinn@aacn.nche.edu   Committees/Taskforces | AACN Home Copyright © 2004 by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. All rights reserved.