1. Free Faculty Webinars
2. AACN's Faculty Learning Online Launched
3. Join an AACN Leadership Network
4. Abstracts Solicited for Upcoming AACN Conferences
5. Early-Career Faculty Invited to Conference on Success Strategies
6. Resource for New Faculty: Mastering the Teaching Role
7. Share Your Insights at a Regional Meeting on the Master's Essentials
8. Register with AACN Faculty Link

Free Faculty Webinars

AACN is pleased to announce our new series of free Webinars exclusively for faculty teaching in baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs. These interactive sessions will include a presentation from a noted expert followed by a robust question and answer session. Three Webinars are planned so far in the new year:

Anticipating an Academic Career
Thursday, January 14 from 12:00-1:00 pm EST
Presenter: Katharyn A. May, DNSc, RN, FAAN, Dean, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing
Experienced educators often say that an academic career is rewarding, stimulating, and impacts countless lives and careers. Newer faculty may not have the same perspective and wonder if a career in higher education is best for them. Consider how a faculty career typically evolves; the importance of professional development, clinical scholarship, and the scholarship of teaching; concepts such as tenure and academic freedom; and recognition and rewards that help motivate faculty throughout a career.

Register now at https://aacnevents.webex.com/aacnevents/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=933614633.

Mark your calendars now for these upcoming Webinars. Registration details will be announced within a few weeks.

Clinical Teaching and Evaluation
Friday, February 5 from 2:00-3:00 pm EST
Presenter: Marilyn Oermann, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF, Professor and Chair of Adult and Geriatric Health, School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Developing Critical Thinking and Clinical Reasoning Skills
Wednesday, March 17 from 1:00-2:00 pm EST
Presenter: Pamela Webber, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, Professor, Shenandoah University

Webinar Recording
In case you missed our first webinar - Raising the Bar: Implementing the 2008 Baccalaureate Essentials presented by Dr. Patricia Martin last month - a free recording of this program is now available for you to view online at http://live.blueskybroadcast.com/bsb/client/CL_DEFAULT.asp?Client=397473.

AACN's Faculty Learning Online Launched

AACN is pleased to offer a new Web-based portal for professional nursing faculty development. Selected sessions from AACN’s annual conferences and other learning resources for faculty will be presented in a convenient online format using video, PowerPoints, and other technology. Content will focus on instructional strategies, curricular priorities, and faculty role development. Registrants may earn continuing education contact hours for sessions completed.

Technology: Transforming Nursing Education
Presented in Salt Lake City in April 2009, faculty may view six sessions taped live from AACN's 2009 Hot Issues Conference. Featuring noted experts in the field of instructional technology, the following sessions may be accessed online:

• Nursing and Health Care Informatics
• Information Literacy: An Essential Foundation for Using Any Technology
• Advancing Critical Thinking with the Electronic Health Record
• Replicating Reality for Learners: Innovations in Teaching With Simulation
• Telehealth and Telenursing: Looking Toward the Future
• Emerging Perspectives on Technology for Teaching and Learning

Faculty wishing to view the material and earn CE contact hours may purchase individual sessions ($29) or the entire six-session conference ($149). For more details and to register at Faculty Learning Online, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Faculty.

Join an AACN Leadership Network

“Nursing education issues often arise quickly – and having access to colleagues all over the country is a tremendous advantage.” - Nelda Godfrey, University of Kansas, Past Chair of the Organizational Leadership Network.

AACN’s Leadership Networks provide a forum for nursing school faculty and staff to connect with colleagues nationwide while engaging in professional development activities and resource sharing. Working through the networks, peer professionals will share best practices and success stories, sharpen leadership skills, and take full advantage of AACN resources. The networks include Organizational Leadership, Instructional Leadership, Research Leadership, Practice Leadership, Business Officers of Nursing Schools, Nursing Advancement Professionals, and Graduate Nursing Admissions Professionals. Faculty and staff may participate in multiple networks, and schools may send more than one representative to each network.
Find out more at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Networks.

Abstracts Solicited for Upcoming AACN Conferences

AACN's Master's Education Conference will be held February 25-27, 2010 followed by the Faculty Practice Conference on February 27-28, 2010. Both events will take place at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in New Orleans, and both will offer poster and abstract presentations. Faculty wishing to submit abstracts should see the following Web pages:

Master's Education Conference Call for Abstracts http://www.aacn.nche.edu/conferences/docs/2010MastersCFA.doc

Faculty Practice Conference Call for Abstracts http://www.aacn.nche.edu/conferences/docs/2010FacultyPracticeCFA.doc

Abstracts must be submitted electronically and are due January 8, 2010. Submitters will be notified of their status no later than January 19, 2010. Full conference and registration details can be accessed at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/conferences/10masters.htm.

Early-Career Faculty Invited to Conference on Success Strategies

The fourth annual Faculty Development Conference will be held February 11-13, 2010 at the Hotel Albuquerque in Albuquerque, NM with the theme Success Strategies for New Faculty. Designed for early-career nurse educators in baccalaureate and higher degree nursing programs, the event is aimed primarily at those new to the faculty role and those who would like to gain more self-confidence in teaching in higher education settings. Sessions explore the academic environment, teaching strategies, clinical teaching, evaluation, and being successful in an academic career. Multiple concurrent sessions encourage participants to select topics according to their own needs and interests. Several particularly popular topics are repeated from previous years, and new topics are added, allowing both new and returning participants to pursue personally relevant topics.
For complete details, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/conferences/10FacDev.htm.

Resource for New Faculty: Mastering the Teaching Role

Dr. Barbara Penn, AACN’s Director of Member Education, has published a book titled Mastering the Teaching Role: A Guide for Nurse Educators specifically for early career nursing faculty. Featuring insights from 40 leaders in nursing education, including many AACN member deans, this handy reference provides guidance for nurses looking to assume teaching positions and for current faculty looking to enhance their preparation to teach. Recognized as a 2008 AJN Book of the Year, this resource features special sections on teaching adults, evaluating students and learning, classroom and clinical teaching, recurrent themes in nursing education, and flourishing in the faculty role. AACN members are entitled to a 15% discount on the book price. To purchase copies, contact 800-323-3555 and be sure to mention that you are an AACN member to receive the discount. For more information, see http://www.fadavis.com/online_store/catalog/catalog_detail.cfm?publication_id=2389.

Share Your Insights at a Regional Meeting on the Master's Essentials

AACN’s Task Force on The Essentials of Master’s Education in Nursing is moving forward with its charge to develop a document that delineates the outcomes that should be acquired upon graduation from a master’s-level nursing program. Chaired by Dr. Joanne Warner from the University of Portland, the task force will use a consensus-building process to complete this work. Stakeholders will have multiple opportunities to review and provide feedback on the draft Master’s Essentials as it develops. The second draft of this document is now posted online at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Education/pdf/DraftMastEssentials.pdf. AACN members, faculty, students, practicing nurses, and representatives of other organizations are invited to provide input at regional meetings planned for the following locations: San Diego, CA, January 20-21, 2010; and New Orleans, LA, February 24-25, 2010. See http://www.aacn.nche.edu/regionalmeetings.htm.

Register with AACN Faculty Link

Individuals wishing to join Faculty Link may register at the following site:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=3aHWl7vtM9GXPlfKRTCiQA_3d_3d.

Please direct any questions about AACN's faculty programming to AACN Program Manager Aimee Stoian at astoian@aacn.nche.edu. For more information on all of AACN's faculty programs, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Faculty.