1.
Nursing Outlook Publishes New Study on the
Faculty Shortage
2. AACN Endorses National Liberal Arts Initiative
3. Register Now for AACN's Summer Seminar
Coming in July
4. Needleman/Buerhaus Study Notes Education
Counts for Nurses
5. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Releases
Nursing Shortage Report
6. Nurses for a Healthier Tomorrow Wins Prestigious
Award
7. Online Journal Publishes Entry into Practice
Series
8. Order the "Hallmarks" Brochure
Online
9. New Opportunity Alerts Posted on the Web
10. AGHE and AAC&U Issue Calls for Abstracts
11. President Bush Signs Bioterrorism Response
Act
12. Division of Nursing Sponsors Funding
Allocation Project
13. HHS Releases Funds to Support Nursing
Education
14. International Organization Seeks Nursing
School Partners
15. New Partnerships and Grant-Funded Initiatives
16. Member News, Announcements and Awards
17. AACN Outreach and Advocacy Update
1. NURSING OUTLOOK PUBLISHES NEW STUDY ON THE FACULTY
SHORTAGE
In
the latest issue of Nursing Outlook magazine, Linda Berlin,
DrPH, RNC, and Karen Sechrist, PhD, RN, FAAN, take an
in-depth look at an issue impacting nursing school enrollments
nationwide in an article entitled "The shortage of
doctorally prepared nursing faculty: A dire situation."
The authors analyze a wide range of data sources that
show how the steadily increasing faculty age, a shortening
of time to likely retirement, and a loss of younger faculty
are exacerbating the faculty shortage issue. The AACN
data referenced throughout the article was compiled by
Dr. Berlin, AACN's Director of Research and Data Services.
For information, see
http://www.us.elsevierhealth.com/nursoutlook.
2. AACN ENDORSES NATIONAL LIBERAL ARTS INITIATIVE
AACN
is pleased to endorse the Campaign to Advance Liberal
Learning (CALL) launched in April by the American Association
of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). With support
from more than 375 college presidents from all parts of
the higher education community, AAC&U initiated this
national effort to increase public understanding of liberal
education and to foster a societal commitment to providing
a quality liberal education to every college student,
regardless of the student's field of study. For more information
on this campaign and how your school may sign-on, visit
http://www.aacu-edu.org/CALL.
3. REGISTER NOW FOR AACN'S SUMMER SEMINAR COMING IN JULY
AACN's
Summer Seminar will be held July 21-24, 2002 at the Sonnenalp
Resort in Vail, Colorado. Guided by the theme "Getting
Ready for the Rest of the Future: Excellence as a Change
Strategy," participants will discuss current books
on organizational change, identify excellence as both
a current characteristic of programs and a higher goal,
share strategies for implementing change, and consider
two national recognition programs that encourage and reward
excellence. Attendees are encouraged to read in advance
one or more of the recommended books so they can join
the discussion on the relevance of the books to nursing
education. The conference is for deans and directors,
associate/assistant deans and directors, and senior faculty
who aspire to executive leadership roles in nursing education.
The seminar format is designed to provide opportunities
for both learning and leisure. For more information and
to register online, click
here.
4. NEEDLEMAN/BUERHAUS STUDY NOTES EDUCATION COUNTS FOR
NURSES
On
May 30, the results of an extensive study on nurse staffing
levels and the quality of care in hospitals appeared in
the New England Journal of Medicine. Conducted by Jack
Needleman, PhD, Harvard School of Public Health, and Peter
Buerhaus, PhD, RN, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing,
the study found that a higher proportion of nursing care
provided by RNs - relative to LPNs and aides - and a greater
number of hours of care by RNs per day are associated
with better outcomes for hospitalized patients. The Washington
Post and the New York Times covered the release of the
study findings and National Public Radio devoted a segment
to the significance of the study in relation to the nursing
shortage. See
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/346/22/1715.
5. ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION RELEASES NURSING SHORTAGE
REPORT
A
new report commissioned by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
finds a national nursing shortage that is fundamentally
different from past shortages, reflecting dissatisfaction
with the profession by nurses and competition from other
career opportunities for women. The report said that solutions
to the present shortage will require collective efforts
of groups including nurses, nursing profession leaders,
nurse educators, health care leaders, labor organizations,
policy makers, philanthropies and consumer groups. The
report recommends forming a national independent body
comprised of a broad range of stakeholders to focus on
creating new models for nursing and health care provision,
and reinventing work environments and nursing education
to address the needs and values of a new generation of
nurses. Issued last month, the report is available online
at
http://www.rwjf.org/special/nursingshortage.
6. NURSES FOR A HEALTHIER TOMORROW WINS PRESTIGIOUS AWARD
In
a ceremony held last week in New York City, the Nurses
for a Healthier Tomorrow campaign was awarded one of advertising's
highest honors - the Silver Anvil Award. Presented by
the Public Relations Society of America, the NHT image
campaign received the top honor in the public service
category, facing tough competition from McDonald's and
Gould Electronics. AACN has been an active member in the
NHT coalition that now includes nearly 40 of America's
leading nursing and health care organizations. Since its
formation, the campaign has raised more than a million
dollars and leveraged millions more in free media exposure
in an effort to attract a new generation to nursing careers.
For more information, see
http://www.nursesource.org.
7.
ONLINE JOURNAL PUBLISHES ENTRY INTO PRACTICE SERIES
The
latest "Online Journal of Issues in Nursing"
(OJIN) features a four-part discussion on entry into professional
nursing practice. Entitled "The 1965 Entry Into Practice
Proposal - Is It Relevant Today?," the four articles
featured in this series include "Revisiting the American
Nurses Association's First Position on Education for Nurses,"
"The Relevance of Associate Degree Nursing Education:
Past, Present, Future," "Education for Professional
Nursing Practice: Looking Backward into the Future,"
and "Education for Entry into Nursing Practice: Revisited
for the 21st Century." To view the article online
and/or write a letter to the editor on this topic, see
http://nursingworld.org/ojin/topic18/tpc18toc.htm.
8.
ORDER THE "HALLMARKS" BROCHURE ONLINE
AACN
has created a new Web link to assist members in ordering
additional copies of the "Hallmarks" brochure.
Developed as a complement to AACN's latest White Paper,
"Hallmarks of the Professional Nursing Practice Setting,"
the brochure "What Every Nursing Graduate Should
Consider When Seeking Employment" is an effective
tool for matching nursing program graduates with practice
settings that value their education. This handy reference
features a series of questions that new nurses can ask
to screen potential employers. AACN has negotiated with
Balmar, Inc. to offer reprints of this brochure at very
reasonable rates ($35 per 100 copies). To order additional
copies online, see
http://www.balmar.com/halmrkordfrm.html.
9.
NEW OPPORTUNITY ALERTS NOW POSTED ON THE WEB
AACN
strives to keep our members informed about new sources
of grant funding, scholarships, and fellowships. New Opportunity
Alerts have just been added to our Web site including
details on the American Nurses Association's Ethnic Minority
Fellowship Program, National Institute of Nursing Research's
Institutional Research Training Grants, HUD's Urban Scholars
Fellowship Program, National Academy of Science Internship
Program, and 6 new opportunities from the Centers for
Disease Control. Find out more by visiting
here.
10.
AGHE AND AAC&U ISSUE CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
The
following Calls for Abstracts may be of interest to nursing
school deans and faculty members:
**The
Association for Gerontology in Higher Education is seeking
submissions for their 29th Annual Meeting and Educational
Conference scheduled for March 6-9, 2003 in St. Petersburg,
Florida. Centered around the theme "AGHE Means Business:
Educational Opportunities and the World of Work,"
the conference will explore the business of aging, senior
workers, the implications of global aging from a business
perspective, and methods of education for a diverse and
complex constituency." For instructions on preparing
and submitting abstracts, see
http://www.aghe.org. Submissions must be received
by July 5, 2002.
**The
Association of American Colleges and Universities invites
proposals for their 2003 Annual Meeting focused on "The
Courage to Question: Liberal Education in the 21st Century."
The annual meeting is scheduled for January 22-25, 2003
in Seattle. Proposals can be submitted online through
July 19, 2002. For more details on proposal content and
submission requirements, see
http://www.aacu-edu.org/meetings/annual.cfm.
11.
PRESIDENT BUSH SIGNS BIOTERRORISM RESPONSE ACT
On May 22, bioterrorism legislation was approved by the
House of Representatives by a vote of 425-to-1. The Public
Health Security and Bioterrorism Response Act (P.L. 107-188)
authorizes significant funding improvements in infrastructure
and funding to prepare for public health emergencies.
The bill was signed by President Bush and became law on
June 12, 2002. See the official White House press release
at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news.
12.
DIVISION OF NURSING SPONSORS FUNDING ALLOCATION PROJECT
On
June 4, AACN staff attended the fourth and final meeting
of the Funding Methodology Allocation Project that was
conducted by the George Mason University Center for Health
Policy Research and Ethics. At this meeting, the expert
panel decided on funding percentages for all three parts
of Title VIII. The panel recommended that Basic Nursing
Education receive 37% and that both Advanced Education
Nursing and Diversity receive 31.5% of Title VIII funds.
Click here to review a transcript of the final meeting:
http://www.gmu.edu/departments/chpre/DONfunding/DONmtgschedule.html.
13.
HHS ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF FUNDS TO SUPPORT NURSING
EDUCATION
On
June 4, Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human
Services, announced the release of over $30 million in
grants to increase the number of qualified nurses. These
funds were made available through FY 2002 appropriation
legislation that was signed into law by President Bush
this January. HRSA will award grants totaling more than
$22 million to colleges, universities and other organizations
to increase the number of nurses with advanced degrees
and to help improve the quality of care for elderly patients.
The remaining $8 million will be dispersed through the
Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program which provides
loan repayment to nurses who agree to work in critical
nursing shortage areas. See the press release at
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2002pres/20020604.html.
14.
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION SEEKS NURSING SCHOOL PARTNERS
International
Distant Learning (IDL), an organization focused on the
health care education field and international student
recruiting, is looking to acquire or partner with accredited
nursing schools on future projects. IDL is specifically
interested in schools with RN and LPN programs. To find
out more about this opportunity, contact Executive Vice
President/CFO Mark Mirenberg at mmirenberg@aol.com
or International Distant Learning, 190 Travis Avenue,
Staten Island, NY 10314.
15.
NEW PARTNERSHIPS AND GRANT-FUNDED INITIATIVES
AACN
will use our email newsletter to spotlight new partnerships
and initiatives launched by members and corporate citizens
that effectively increase student capacity, add new nursing
faculty, increase student diversity, address the nursing
shortage, and enhance the way education is delivered.
Please send information about your partnerships to
rrosseter@aacn.nche.edu.
**Texas
Christian University's Harris School of Nursing in Fort
Worth will use their online master's degree program and
$166,000 in state grant money to recruit and train nurses
for faculty positions at Tarleton State University, Vernon
College, Angelina College, Kilgore College, and Panola
College. This project will fill the void of nurse educators
with alumni who live in rural areas and have close ties
with their communities.
**The Orvis School of Nursing at the University of Nevada,
Reno will admit an additional 24 students this fall thanks
to a $233,000 grant from NevadaWorks, a state agency that
provides state and federal funding to programs designed
to expand the skilled workforce of the state. The new
students will enter an accelerated bachelor's degree program
that will allow them to graduate in December 2003.
**Tenet
Healthcare Foundation, a philanthropic arm of Tenet Healthcare
Corp., has awarded a $1 million grant to The East Los
Angeles Community Union Education Foundation to provide
financial support to Latino nursing students enrolled
in local colleges and universities. Part of the funds
will be used to develop outreach videos and educational
materials and conduct career fairs at local high schools.
**Florida
International University's School of Nursing has recognized
six community health care organizations for contributing
$1.78 million toward the school's training initiative
to ease the state's nursing shortage. Baptist Health Systems
committed $360,000 towards funding four-year nursing education
scholarships. Tenet South Florida Healthsystem committed
$230,000
towards a full-time medical surgical nursing faculty member
to enable the school to increase its admissions to 60
students. Miami Children's Hospitals made an in-kind contribution
of $230,000 for three years to fund a full-time pediatric
nursing faculty member. Mercy Hospital (Miami) and HCA
Health Care, East Florida Division donated a combined
$600,000 to fund and
co-sponsor a foreign physician-to-nurse re-education program.
Miami Beach Anesthesiology Associates at Mt. Sinai Medical
Center donated $360,000 to help the school launch its
nurse anesthetist program.
16.
MEMBER NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND AWARDS
**In
May, AACN Treasurer Madeline Wake, PhD, RN, FAAN, was
appointed to serve as Provost of Marquette University
in Milwaukee where she served as dean of the College of
Nursing. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Wake on
this outstanding opportunity and in thanking her for her
years of service to AACN. Judith Miller, PhD, RN, FAAN,
was been appointed as Interim Dean of the College of Nursing
at Marquette.
**Dolores
Sands, PhD, RN, dean of the School of Nursing at the University
of Texas at Austin, has been appointed to two national
committees involving nursing research and mass casualty
education: The National Advisory Council for Nursing Research
of the National Institutes of Health and the International
Nursing Coalition for Mass Casualty Education.
**Health
Volunteers Overseas has won the Award of Excellence in
the 2002 Associations Advance America Awards program,
a national competition sponsored by the American Society
of Association Executives. The award was presented to
HVO's nurse anesthesia training program based in Belize.
AACN is a sponsor of the Nursing Volunteers Overseas division.
For more information, see http://www.hvousa.org.
17.
AACN OUTREACH AND ADVOCACY UPDATE
**The
Association of Academic Health Center's (AHC) hosted their
9th Annual Congress of Health Professions Educators on
June 3-4, 2002 in Washington, D.C. Focused on "Faculty
Shortages Across the Health Professions: Implications
for Teaching and the Workforce," sessions explored
the causes and responses to the faculty shortage in a
number of disciplines including nursing, pharmacy, dentistry
and the allied health professions. Dr. Linda Berlin, AACN's
Director of Research and Data Services, presented the
latest data related to the nursing faculty shortage. For
more details on the AHC, see
http://www.ahcnet.org.
**AACN
President Kathleen Ann Long, PhD, RNCS, FAAN, and AACN
Executive Director Polly Bednash, PhD, RN, FAAN, participated
in a meeting of the Nursing Practice and Education Consortium
(N-PEC) on May 12-13, 2002 in Indianapolis. Funded by
a grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, N-PEC
is a coalition of 10 leading nursing organizations that
collaborate on vital issues affecting the future of nursing,
including the development of Vision 2020 for Nursing,
a strategic plan to help transform U.S. nursing practice
and education. For more detail, see
http://www.nursingsociety.org/programs/npec_intro.html.
**In
the past month, AACN participated in over ten meetings
with the staff of members of the House Energy and Commerce
Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions Committee regarding the key provisions for nursing
faculty in the Nurse Reinvestment Act (H.R. 3487/S. 1864).
In these meetings, AACN staff emphasized the importance
of the nurse faculty provisions. The meetings were very
productive and brought more attention to the faculty shortage
on Capitol Hill. Click
here for a side-by-side of the bill.
**On
June 5, Comptroller General David M. Walker officially
announced the reappointment of Dr. Mary Wakefield, PhD,
RN, FAAN, to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
(MedPAC). In May AACN joined nursing organizations in
writing a support letter for Dr. Wakefield's reappointment
to the Comptroller General. Currently Dr. Wakefield is
the Director of the Center for Rural Health at the University
of North Dakota, School of Medicine and Health Sciences
in Grand Forks.
**On
May 30, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner
Faculties (NONPF) hosted a meeting of the Nursing Network
and the ANSR Alliance. AACN and other organization's staff
discussed efforts to lobby in favor of the Nurse Reinvestment
Act.
**On
May 8, staff attended the first meeting of the Department
of Veterans Affairs National Commission on VA Nursing.
This 12-member commission is charged with finding legislative
and organizational policy changes to enhance recruitment
and retention of nurses and other nursing personnel by
the Department of Veteran Affairs. Their recommendations
will be reported to Secretary Anthony Principi and Congress.
**On
May 7, staff attended the Department of Veteran's Affairs
Awards Ceremony for the 2002 Excellence in Nursing and
the Advancement of Nursing Programs. The ceremony was
conducted at the Department's headquarters in Washington,
DC and the featured speakers were Secretary of Veterans
Affairs Anthony Principi and Chief Nurse Cathy Rick, RN,
CNAA, CHE.
