1.
2002 State of the Science Congress Commences
September 26
2. AACN’s Annual Survey of Schools Now
Available Online
3. New Nurse Practitioner Competencies Released
4. Call for Nominations Issued for Board
and Committee Members
5. Update on the Nurse Reinvestment Act
6. New Opportunity Alerts Posted on the Web
7. Applications Now Being Accepted for Graduate
ELNEC
8. Baccalaureate Conference Coming to Florida
in November
9. Nursing Overseas Plans New Project in
Cambodia
10. Health Affairs Examines Nursing Workforce
Issues
11. AJN Continues Palliative Care Series
12. New Grants to Strengthen Geriatric Nursing
Education
13. Deans and Associate Deans Welcome at
AACN’s Fall Meeting
14. Nurse Zone Focuses on Nursing Education
Issues
15. Share Your “Hot Issues” with
AACN’s Conference Planners
16. NCPIE Focuses on Medication Safety and
Education
17. New Partnerships and Grant-Funded Initiatives
18. Member News, Announcements and Awards
19. AACN Outreach and Advocacy Update
1.
2002 STATE OF THE SCIENCE CONGRESS COMMENCES SEPTEMBER
26
More
than 700 nurse researchers, educators, policy makers and
health care leaders will converge on Washington, D.C.
next week for the 2002 State of the Science Congress.
Over 180 original abstracts and 100 poster presentations
will explore emerging scientific discoveries related to
nursing practice. As a highlight to Congress, a preconference
media training session, “Communicating with the Media:
Turning Today’s Research into Tomorrow’s Headlines,”
will be offered on Thursday, September 26, 9:00-11:00
am in Salon D at the J.W. Marriott Hotel. This dynamic
session will show you how to develop media messages and
translate research findings into news stories. Award-winning
journalist Suzanne Gordon will be featured along with
expert media trainers. The fee to attend the training
is $75. Register now online at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Conferences/stateofscience.htm.
2.
AACN’S ANNUAL SURVEY OF SCHOOLS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE
AACN’s
2002 Annual Survey of Nursing Programs is now available
online. All nursing programs at four-year colleges and
universities should have received an email last week containing
instructions on how to complete the Internet-based survey.
Your school’s participation in this survey is vital
to AACN’s mission of fostering innovation to advance
professional nursing education, research, and practice.
For assistance logging on to the survey, contact Janis
Stennett at surveysupport@aacn.nche.edu
or call 202-463-6930, extension 236.
3.
NEW NURSE PRACTITIONER COMPETENCIES RELEASED
The
federal Division of Nursing, a branch of the Health Resources
and Services Administration, has just published a new
set of primary care competencies for nurse practitioners
(NP) in five practice areas. This publication, entitled
“Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Competencies in
Specialty Areas: Adult, Family, Gerontological, Pediatric,
and Women’s Health,” is the result of the collaborative
work of the AACN and the National Organization of Nurse
Practitioner Faculties. Competencies were identified by
a national panel including organizations that represent
the five NP specialties, as well as credentialing and
certifying agencies. A validation panel composed of leaders
from nursing practice, education and accreditation organizations
confirmed the relevance of the national panel’s work.
This document may be downloaded from the AACN Web site
at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Education/NPcompetencies.htm.
Bound copies will also be available in the near future.
4.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS ISSUED FOR BOARD AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS
The
Nominating Committee is now seeking nominations for the
following positions: Treasurer, four Board member-at-large
positions, and three Nominating Committee positions. The
Call for Nominations was recently mailed with the Premeeting
Mailing in August. For nominating materials, please contact
Mona Frole at 202-463-6930. Please note that the Board
of Directors recently approved a policy change for expenses
covered at Board meetings. AACN will now cover travel
expenses, hotel and per diem for Board meetings that take
place during the Summer Seminar and Doctoral Education
Conferences. AACN will continue to reimburse Board members
for two nights of hotel and per diem expenses for the
Board meetings that take place during semiannual meetings.
5.
UPDATE ON THE NURSE REINVESTMENT ACT
AACN
is actively lobbying Congress with a small group of nursing
organizations and other health industry provider groups
to encourage funding for the Nurse Reinvestment Act in
fiscal year 2003. This group has conducted over 20 Hill
meetings with staffers from the House and Senate appropriations
committees advocating for funding the important new programs
contained in the legislation. AACN has joined with a large
number of health and education associations, business
organizations, and private companies in writing a letter
to all members of Congress stressing the importance of
funding the Nurse Reinvestment Act. This broad cross section
of health, education, and related industries demonstrates
the awareness of the economic impact the nursing shortage
is having on all areas of business. Please check the AACN
Web site over the next few weeks for a copy of this letter.
Updates on the Nurse Reinvestment Act may be found online
at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Government/shortagelegislation.htm.
6.
NEW OPPORTUNITY ALERTS POSTED ON THE WEB
Opportunity
Alerts are announcements of grants, fellowships, scholarships,
and other funding sources for nursing programs, students,
and research that are routinely updated on AACN's Web
site. New alerts have been posted including opportunities
related to faculty internships and research projects,
minority academic institution fellowships, and post-graduate
research participation. View new opportunity alerts by
clicking here.
7.
APPLICATIONS NOW BEING ACCEPTED FOR GRADUATE ELNEC COURSE
The
National Cancer Institute generously awarded $1.4 million
in grant funding to expand the reach of the End-of-Life
Nursing Education Consortium to include faculty in graduate
education programs. Funding will be used to adapt ELNEC
curriculum and teaching materials for use in graduate
nursing programs and to host four training sessions beginning
in 2003. The first G-ELNEC (graduate ELNEC) training is
scheduled for June 19-21, 2003 in Pasadena, CA. Applications
are a now being accepted and may be downloaded from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/ELNEC/GraduateELNEC.htm.
Space is limited; early registration is encouraged.
8.
BACCALAUREATE CONFERENCE COMING TO FLORIDA IN NOVEMBER
AACN’s
fifth annual Baccalaureate Education Conference will be
held November 14-16, 2002 at the Wyndham Palace Resort
& Spa, part of Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista,
Florida. Congruent with the theme “The Changing Face
of Baccalaureate Education,” the conference will
highlight changes in the characteristics of today’s
undergraduate students, issues pertinent to teaching this
audience, and various approaches teachers and schools
can take to maximize educational success in today’s
health care environment. As an added bonus, two free pre-conferences
will be offered on November 14: “Gerontologizing
Your Curriculum," sponsored by The John A. Hartford
Foundation Institute of Geriatric Nursing for the first
100 registrants, and "Toolkit for Nursing Excellence
in End-of-Life Transitions (TNEEL)” for the first
60 registrants. The Baccalaureate Conference is open to
deans, nursing faculty, administrators, employers, and
doctoral nursing students, particularly those who have
selected teaching as a career focus. Teams of faculty
are encouraged to attend. More information and the Call
for Abstracts is available
online.
9.
NURSING OVERSEAS PLANS NEW PROJECT IN CAMBODIA
The
Nursing Overseas division of Health Volunteers Overseas
(HVO) has initiated a new program at the Angkor Hospital
for Children in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The program will
focus on improving the quality of nursing care provided
at the facility by training ten senior-level nurses to
serve as clinician-educators for the hospital’s staff
of 65 nurses. HVO is currently recruiting registered nurses
who have a minimum of a master’s degree in nursing
and two years of teaching experience in pediatric nursing
for this project. Assignments will be for a minimum of
two weeks in length with six volunteers recruited per
year. Volunteers are responsible for their international
transportation, which is tax-deductible. Accommodations
will be provided. AACN is a founding sponsor of Nursing
Overseas. For information, call 202-296-0928 or visit
http://www.hvousa.org.
10.
HEALTH AFFAIRS EXAMINES NURSING WORKFORCE ISSUES
In
the September/October 2002 issue of Health Affairs, researchers
examine a wide range of trends in the health professions,
detailing the severity of workforce shortages, the characteristics
of the people leaving these critical professions, and
what can be done to stop the continued losses. Many articles
focus on nursing including submissions on bridging the
gap between nursing schools and hospitals, caring for
older adults, trends in the supply of nurse practitioners,
strengthening hospital nursing, and nursing workforce
retention. In an article on the nursing shortage, noted
researcher Julie Sochalski, PhD, RN, FAAN, found that
nurses with higher degrees accrue more years of work experience
and that nurses from racial/ethnic minority groups pursue
higher degrees in nursing with greater frequency. Read
more online at http://www.healthaffairs.org.
11.
AJN CONTINUES PALLIATIVE CARE SERIES
The American Journal of Nursing (AJN), the official journal
of the American Nurses Association, continues its bimonthly
continuing education series on palliative nursing care.
The series uses actual case studies to improve the way
nurses care for dying patients, both physically and psychologically.
The latest article in the series, “Symptom Management
in People with AIDS” by Patrick J. Coyne, MSN, RN,
CS, is now posted online.
12.
NEW GRANTS AVAILABLE TO STRENGTHEN GERIATRIC NURSING EDUCATION
The
Health Resources and Services Administration is providing
seed money (up to $25,000 per grant) to strengthen geriatric
nursing didactic content and clinical components of baccalaureate
nursing programs. This grant program encourages partnerships
between schools of nursing and geriatric long-term care
facilities or assisted living facilities with the goal
of providing a stronger foundation for nursing students
in the delivery of quality geriatric care. See http://www.bhpr.hrsa.gov/grants/applications/03nrsgeriatric.htm.
13.
DEANS AND ASSOCIATE DEANS WELCOME AT AACN’S FALL
MEETING
The
Fall Semiannual Meeting will be held October 26-29, 2002
at the Washington Monarch Hotel in Washington, DC. Supporting
the theme “Nursing in the National Spotlight,”
the meeting will address current national issues and recent
reports of interest to nursing and nursing education.
Colleagues from the community college sector will provide
their perspective on how we can collaborate to enhance
the nursing profession. National reports to be addressed
include those from the American Hospital Association,
NurseWeek/AONE, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the
National Council of State Boards of Nursing, and the Institute
of Medicine. A communications consultant will offer guidance
to participants on speaking more clearly and confidently
about issues of concern to our profession. AACN is pleased
to announce that David M. Lawrence, MD, Chairman and CEO,
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals,
will receive the association’s prestigious John P.
McGovern Award and present the keynote address. SPECIAL
NOTE: For the first time, deans/directors are invited
to bring one associate/assistant dean to the Fall Meeting
as a way to introduce these senior academic leaders to
the association and its issues. For complete information,
see here.
14.
NURSE ZONE FOCUSES ON NURSING EDUCATION ISSUES
NurseZone.com
is an online resource designed by nurses, for nurses,
which features a variety of weekly articles focusing on
nursing practice and education issues. Recent stories
of interest to nurse educators include:
Debate
Continues Over Entry into Practice
http://www.nursezone.com/Stories/SpotlightOnNurses.asp?articleID=9266
Climbing
the Ladder of Success: Hospitals Offer Advancement to
Bedside Nurses
http://www.nursezone.com/stories/SpotlightOnNurses.asp?articleID=9235
15.
SHARE
YOUR “HOT ISSUES” WITH AACN’S CONFERENCE
PLANNERS
Last
year, the AACN Board approved a recommendation from the
Program Committee to make the Faculty Practice Conference
an every-other-year event, alternating with a new "Hot
Issues" conference. The first Hot Issues conference
is projected for April 2003 with the theme reflecting
pressing issues in nursing education as identified by
member school faculties. To this end, members will receive
an e-mail the week of September 23, asking for conference
theme ideas due before the Fall Meeting. Please ask faculty
members to begin to identify the issues of greatest concern
to nursing education because each school's "top 3"
issues will be requested in the coming e-mail. The conference
planning subcommittee will use the ideas gleaned from
across the country to determine the first "Hot Issues"
conference theme and begin planning the event.
16.
NCPIE FOCUSES ON MEDICATION SAFETY AND EDUCATION
The
National Council on Patient Information and Education
(NCPIE) is a nonprofit, interdisciplinary coalition of
over 150 organizations concerned with patient safety and
education about the appropriate use of medications. AACN
has served on the NCPIE Board of Directors for several
years, and we want to share information on three initiatives
of interest to the academic nursing community.
**NCPIE
will co-sponsor a one day conference, “High Tech
- High Touch: Making the Connections to Improve Medicine
Use for Older Adults,” on October 17, 2002 at the
Hyatt Regency in Bethesda, Maryland. The conference topic
stems from the 1999 IOM report “To Err is Human,”
and considers new research findings and organizational
responses to the report. For more information, see http://www.pharmacy.umaryland.edu/lamy/conference.html.
**October
is the 17th annual Talk About Prescriptions Month, a NCPIE
public awareness campaign. This year's message is “Educate
Before You Medicate: Know Your Medicine.” For details,
see http://www.talkaboutrx.org.
**In
January 2002, NCPIE launched a very successful campaign,
Be MedWise, promoting the wise use of non-prescription
medicines. A Web site to support the campaign includes
simple medication information and a quiz useful to consumers
and health professionals who teach patients. Nursing faculty
who teach pharmacology may find these materials useful
for students. See http://www.bemedwise.com.
17.
NEW PARTNERSHIPS AND GRANT-FUNDED INITIATIVES
Below
are 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.
**Over
the summer, nursing leaders at three institutions that
do not offer doctoral programs in nursing -- Florida A&M
University, Florida State University, and the University
of North Florida -- finalized arrangements with the University
of Florida to form a cooperative doctoral degree program
in nursing science. Beginning this fall, students from
the three partner schools will be able to access the University
of Florida’s doctoral program via an interactive
distance-delivery system through sites in Tallahassee
and Jacksonville. This innovative partnership will help
ease the nursing faculty shortage by providing new avenues
for students to complete a PhD in nursing.
**The
Visiting Nurses Association of Wisconsin and Marquette
University College of Nursing formed a collaborative partnership
to establish the Institute for End-of-Life Care Education.
The Institute will be a state-of-the-art education center
that provides new clinical opportunities for undergraduate
and graduate students to apply classroom learning from
various disciplines, such as nursing, medicine, social
work and theology.
18.
MEMBER NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND AWARDS
**On
Saturday, September 21, 2002 the First Annual Conference
on Children's
Health and the Environment will be jointly sponsored by
The George
Washington University Medical Center, Children's National
Medical
Center, and the Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health
and the
Environment. Nurses and other health professionals are
encouraged to attend. Click to http://www.health-e-kids.org
for more information.
**The
University of Illinois School of Public Health in collaboration
with the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses
will present a day-long conference for all nurses interested
in learning more about the impact of the environment on
health. The workshop will provide an overview of environmental
health hazards in the home, workplace, and community.
The workshop is scheduled for September 27, 2002 from
8am-4:30pm. For complete program information, see http://128.248.232.70/glakes/ce/courseDetail.asp?GID=101.
**A
Call for Papers has been issued for the Tenth National
Conference on Nursing Administration Research coming in
October 2003. Presented by the University of North Carolina–Chapel
Hill, the theme for the meeting is “Fashioning the
Future: Enhancing Care Through Nursing Health Services
Research.” For more information, see http://nursing.ce.unc.edu.
**The
Institute of Medicine's Clinical Research Roundtable is
holding a workshop entitled "Exploring New Models
for Engaging the Public in the Clinical Research Enterprise"
on November 5, 2002 in Washington, DC. The goal of this
workshop is to identify new solutions and highlight model
programs that make research and the research oversight
process more transparent and open to public input. Registration
for this workshop is free. See http://www.iom.edu/crr
for more information.
**The
Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance
Abuse is sponsoring its 26th annual conference on November
7-9, 2002 in Washington, DC at the Hilton Washington Embassy
Row. This year’s theme is “New Challenges …
New Directions.” For details and to register, see
http://www.amersa.org.
**New
guidelines for the Carnegie Scholars Fellowship program
are now posted online at http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/CASTL/guidelines.
This year, applications will focus on liberal learning,
not on specific disciplines as in years past. The Carnegie
Foundation is looking for undergraduate faculty who are
committed to the scholarship of teaching and learning
in support of liberal education to apply to participate
in the 2003-2004 cohort. The application deadline is November
1, 2002.
**The
American Public Health Association is calling for manuscripts
from nurses for publication in the American Journal of
Public Health. The journal is dedicated to promoting public
health research, policy, practice, and education. For
details on how to submit your work, see http://www.ajph.org/misc/ifora.shtml.
**The
4th US-Russian Nursing Conference on the Russian Waterways
is seeking abstracts for this upcoming conference scheduled
for August 1-16, 2003. Held in conjunction with a cruise
from Moscow to St. Petersburg, the conference theme will
be “Building Bridges for Collaboration Between US
and Russian Nurses.” Submissions are due November
15, 2002. For more information see http://www.us-russiannurses.com.
19.
AACN OUTREACH AND ADVOCACY UPDATE
**On
September 6, AACN President Kathleen Ann Long, PhD, RN,
FAAN; President-elect Jean Bartels, PhD, RN; and Executive
Director Polly Bednash, PhD, RN, FAAN, participated in
a quarterly meeting with the TriCouncil for Nursing at
the headquarters of the American Organization of Nurse
Executives. Discussions focused on federal appropriations
for nursing and a funding strategy for the Nurse Reinvestment
Act.
**On
September 4, Rep. C.W. “Bill” Young (R-FL),
Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, introduced
the President’s budget request for the Labor, Health
and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill
on the floor of the House of Representatives. This unusual
action bypasses the regular committee process preventing
appropriators from amending the bill. Chairman Young took
this action out of frustration with the House Republican
leadership. The political battle is between the conservative
Republicans who want to fund or eliminate many health
and education programs as outlined in the President’s
budget, and the moderate Republicans who support their
funding. Congress is far behind schedule in moving the
13 annual “must pass” bills that fund the government
departments and programs. With the new fiscal year starting
October 1, not one of these bills has been signed into
law.
