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Fact
Sheet AACN Fact Sheet MISSION: The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is the national voice for university and four-year-college education programs in nursing. AACN's educational, research, government advocacy, data collection, publications, and other programs work to establish quality standards for baccalaureate and graduate-degree nursing education, assist deans and directors to implement those standards, influence the nursing profession to improve health care, and promote public support of baccalaureate and graduate education, research, and practice in nursing--the nation's largest health care profession. MEMBERSHIP: From an original 121 member institutions in 1969, AACN today represents more than 620 schools of nursing at public and private universities and senior colleges nationwide. These schools offer a mix of baccalaureate, graduate, and post-graduate programs. The dean or other chief administrative nurse in the nursing program serves as representative to AACN, though the association does serve all members of the academic unit. ABOUT PROFESSIONAL NURSING: Rapid change and mounting complexities in health care have made baccalaureate- and graduate-degree education and professional nursing important distinctions. Today, the primary pathway for entry into professional-level nursing, as compared to technical-level practice, is a four-year Bachelor of Science (BSN) degree in nursing. The professional nurse with a baccalaureate degree is the only basic nursing graduate prepared to practice in all health care settings-critical care, public health, primary care, and mental health. Nurses prepared with the master's or doctoral degree are engaged in a broad array of advanced practice, clinical specialties, teaching, leadership and research. AACN PROGRAMS: In 1986, AACN directed the national panel that defined the knowledge, clinical skills, values, and other essential abilities that must be possessed by graduates of America's bachelor's-degree nursing education programs. AACN publishes and disseminates these Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice to nursing schools and policymakers throughout the nation, and revises the teaching components to stay current with changing conditions in nursing and health care. AACN also publishes core standards for master's-degree curricula for registered nurses who perform at the advanced practice level, as well as guidelines defining the essential clinical resources for nursing education, research, and faculty practice. n government relations and other advocacy, AACN works to advance public policy on nursing education, research, and practice. AACN is a leader in securing sustained federal support for nursing education and research; in shaping legislative and regulatory policy affecting nursing school programming; and in ensuring continuing financial assistance for nursing students. In 1996, AACN launched a new alliance of multiple organizations to accredit nursing higher education programs in a more streamlined and uniform process. Alliance organizations include an autonomous arm of AACN, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), which is the only national agency dedicated exclusively to the accreditation of bachelor's- and graduate-degree nursing education programs. The Association also operates the AACN Institutional Data System, a comprehensive national databank reporting current statistics on student enrollments and graduations, faculty salaries, budgets, institutional resources, and other trends and conditions in baccalaureate and graduate nursing education. PUBLICATIONS: AACN publishes the bi-monthly Journal of Professional Nursing and Syllabus newsletter, as well as a variety of books and other publications for nursing educators, administrators, students, and researchers. In addition, AACN collaborates with Peterson's, the leading producer of college guides, in producing Peterson's Guide to Nursing Programs, the only comprehensive directory of accredited baccalaureate and graduate nursing education programs in the U.S. and Canada. The association's monthly email newsletter, AACN News Watch, contains the latest news and information on professional nursing education, including opportunities to secure program funding. To subscribe, please contact rrossete@aacn.nche.edu.Information about AACN's publications, educational standards, legislative advocacy, conferences, and special projects, as well as texts of the Association's position statements, news releases, media backgrounders, and other reports, can be accessed here online. GOVERNANCE: AACN is governed by an 11-member Board of Directors, each of whom represents a member institution. The Association has standing committees on Government Affairs, Membership, Programs, and other areas of AACN operations; maintains task forces on such professional concerns as distance technology in nursing education; and sponsors interest groups in six areas of nursing education, practice, and scholarship.
BOARD
OF DIRECTORS
Officers President: C. Fay Raines, University of Alabama in Huntsville Janet Allan, University of Maryland Executive Director: Geraldine Bednash
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