01.
Schools Turn Away More Than 11,000 Qualified
Applicants Last Year
02. Plan Now to Attend AACN’s Spring Annual
Meeting
03. Speakers Needed to Address the Cost of
Nursing Education
04. AACN Supports New York State’s BSN
in 10 Years Proposal
05. Long-Term Care Commission to Spotlight
Model Partnerships
06. Support the National Tobacco Free Nurses
Initiative
07. New Funding Received to Evaluate Post-Baccalaureate
Residencies
08. Nursing Overseas Announces New Project
in Uganda
09. Deadline for 2004 Secretary’s Award
Approaches
10. Cover the Uninsured Week Returns May 10-16,
2004
11. Faculty Practice Conference Coming to
Scottsdale, Arizona
12. Master’s Education Conference Focuses
on Faculty Leaders
13. HRSA Posts 2003 Grantee Abstracts &
FY 2004 Funding Opportunities
14. Education Scholar Offers Convenient Faculty
Development
15. Nursing Advancement Professionals Host
Upcoming Meeting
16. BONUS Network to Meet in Seattle in April
17. Applications Due in March for Graduate
ELNEC Training
18. RN Recruitment and Retention Conference
Rescheduled
19. Bring Your Students to Washington for
a Policy Briefing
20. National Forum on the Practice Doctorate
Convened
21. New Partnerships and Grant-Funded Initiatives
22. Member News, Announcements and Awards
23. Opportunities and Resources to Consider
1.
SCHOOLS TURN AWAY MORE THAN 11,000 QUALIFIED APPLICANTS
LAST YEAR
According
to the results of AACN’s annual survey of nursing schools,
enrollments in entry-level baccalaureate programs in nursing
increased by 16.6 percent in fall 2003 over last year. RN-to-Baccalaureate,
master’s and doctoral programs also saw enrollment
increases by 8.1 percent, 10.2 percent, and 5.6 percent,
respectively. Despite these significant gains, more than
11,000 qualified applicants were not accepted in baccalaureate
nursing programs due to limited numbers of faculty, clinical
sites, and classroom space. AACN’s findings are based
on responses from a total of 564 (82.7 percent) of the nation’s
nursing schools with baccalaureate- and graduate-degree
programs that were surveyed in fall 2003. Click
here to read the press release, which includes enrollment
success stories.
2.
PLAN NOW TO ATTEND AACN’S SPRING ANNUAL MEETING
Supporting
the theme "Critical Resources: The Cost of Doing Business,"
AACN’s Spring Annual Meeting will be held March 27-30,
2004 at the Fairmont Washington Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Deans and directors will participate in resource-related
program sessions as well as discussion of timely issues.
The new Gannett Lectureship, funded by Gannett and Nursing
Spectrum, will be presented Sunday evening by Dr. John V.
Lombardi, Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
More details may be found on the Web at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Conferences/springannualbrochure04.htm.
Please note that the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists
will sponsor a post-conference on Tuesday, March 30 from
1:00-3:30 p.m. on "How to Establish a New Nurse Anesthesia
Educational Program". There is no charge to attend;
simply indicate your interest on the registration form.
*SCHEDULE
CHANGE. The AACN Board of Directors has requested a change
to the recently mailed meeting schedule in order to host
a discussion on the New Nurse initiative. Accordingly, the
discussion forum with the Task Force on the Professional
Clinical Doctorate has been moved from Monday, March 29
to Saturday, March 27 from 1:30-3:00 p.m. (replacing the
Discussion Forums) which may affect travel plans for those
wishing to participate in this forum. During the new session
on Monday, March 29 from 8:00-9:15 a.m., the Board will
present decisions recently reached on the Clinical Nurse
Leader/New Nurse. Members will receive additional information
prior to the meeting.
3.
SPEAKERS NEEDED TO ADDRESS THE COST OF NURSING EDUCATION
AACN
is soliciting speaker nominations for the closing session
of the Annual Meeting on Tuesday March 30, 2004, 10:30 a.m.–12:00
p.m.: “The Cost of Doing Business in Nursing Education”.
Members are increasingly interested in costing out nursing
education, especially in comparison with other disciplines,
and responding to the question “Why is nursing education
so expensive?” Recognizing that many schools have wrestled
with this and related issues, we are soliciting suggestions
for panelists for this session. If your school has created
economic models, realized significant cost efficiencies,
perfected business plans, or successfully defended the cost
of nursing education to university leadership and/or external
stakeholders, we want to know what you have done. Those
interested in being considered as a speaker or sharing speaker
recommendations should send a brief description to Dr. Barbara
Penn at bpenn@aacn.nche.edu
no later than Wednesday, February 18, 2004.
4.
AACN SUPPORTS NEW YORK STATE’S BSN IN 10 YEARS PROPOSAL
The
New York State Board of Nursing is considering a proposal
that will require registered nurses prepared at the associate
degree and diploma levels to complete a baccalaureate degree
in nursing within 10 years of graduation. AACN applauds
this proposal, titled The Initiative to Advance the Profession
of Nursing, and issued a letter of support on January 14,
2004. In the communication, AACN underscored its support
for baccalaureate and higher degree preparation for nursing
clinicians and commended the Board of Nursing’s efforts
to enhance the quality of nursing care available to the
citizens of New York while strengthening the state’s
nursing workforce. Read the letter online at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Government/NYSBONProposal.htm.
Members wishing to send support letters should contact Robert
Rosseter at rrosseter@aacn.nche.edu
for more information.
5.
LONG-TERM CARE COMMISSION TO SPOTLIGHT MODEL PARTNERSHIPS
Last
month, AACN Executive Director Polly Bednash attended the
first meeting of the National Commission on Nursing Workforce
for Long-term Care sponsored by the American Health Care
Association. The commission is a collaboration of long-term
care, nursing, education, and other national leaders seeking
to address the major workforce issues facing the nation’s
long-term care providers. Members are developing recommendations
for practical steps to recruit and retain a skilled nursing
workforce to care for the nation’s frail elderly and
disabled. As part of its charge, the Commission will highlight
model partnerships between baccalaureate and graduate nursing
programs and long-term care settings. Please submit details
on your school’s collaborative activities to rrosseter@aacn.nche.edu.
6.
SUPPORT THE NATIONAL TOBACCO FREE NURSES INITIATIVE
Tobacco
Free Nurses is a national initiative to help nurses and
students nurses stop smoking. Funded by The Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation, this collaborative effort will include
Web-based interventions, a media campaign, grassroots programs,
and training for nurse leaders to become strong advocates
for tobacco control. The principal investigators of this
project are Dr. Linda Sarna from the School of Nursing at
University of California-Los Angeles and Dr. Stella Bialous
from Tobacco Policy International. Project partners include
AACN, the American Nurses Foundation/American Nurses Association,
the National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurses Associations,
and QuitNet, an organization that has helped tens of thousands
quit smoking through a unique online community of smokers
and ex-smokers. To support this initiative, AACN encourages
members to complete the pop-up survey on our Web site –
http://www.aacn.nche.edu
– and visit the project’s homepage at http://www.tobaccofreenurses.org.
7.
NEW FUNDING RECEIVED TO EVALUATE POST-BACCALAUREATE RESIDENCIES
On January
7, AACN staff and our partners with the University HealthSystem
Consortium (UHC) met to discuss the evaluation plan for
the post-baccalaureate residency program and hear directly
from students who have completed the program. The Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation has provided the funding needed
to assess the outcomes of the one-year residency developed
jointly by an AACN-UHC committee. Six member institutions
have completed the first year of the residency, including
New York University, University of Arizona, University of
Colorado, University of Kentucky, University of Pennsylvania,
and University of Utah. Six additional sites, including
Oregon Health and Science University, SUNY-Stony Brook,
University of Kansas, University of New Mexico, University
of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and University of Texas Medical
Branch, are midway through the residency’s first year.
External audiences continue to express interest in this
initiative. Watch for updates in upcoming issues of AACN
News Watch.
8.
NURSING OVERSEAS ANNOUNCES NEW PROJECT IN UGANDA
Health
Volunteers Overseas (HVO) has been awarded a $40,000 grant
from the Izumi Foundation to fund the second phase of a
pediatric nurse education and training program at Mulago
Hospital in Kampala, Uganda. The project’s first phase
resulted in the development of three pediatric nurse training
modules, the training of Neonatal Intensive Care unit staff
and the provision of needed educational materials to the
site. Nursing Overseas, one of ten active health divisions
within HVO, is recruiting pediatric nurses to serve in long-term
volunteer assignments to implement this project. Candidates
should have some teaching experience at the college level
and strong clinical or preceptor backgrounds. Those interested
should contact (202) 296-0928 for more information or visit
http://www.hvousa.org.
9.
DEADLINE FOR THE 2004 SECRETARY’S AWARD APPROACHES
February
13, 2004 is the deadline for entries for the 2004 Secretary’s
Award for Innovations in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.
This national awards program invites nursing and other health
professions students to develop creative ways of promoting
health and preventing disease. Students in twelve different
disciplines are eligible to enter this competition. Student
authors of the first, second, and third place winning papers
and their advisors are brought to Washington, DC to participate
in the Secretary’s Award ceremony and reception. This
awards program involves a collaboration between the Department
of Health and Human Services, the Health Resources and Services
Administration, and the Federation of Associations of Schools
of the Health Professions. The application is available
online at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/SecretarysAward.
10.
COVER THE UNINSURED WEEK RETURNS MAY 10-16, 2004
Building
on the momentum generated by last year’s campaign,
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and stakeholder organizations
are pleased to announce that Cover the Uninsured Week will
return May 10-16, 2004. This effort supports national and
local activities designed to sensitize the public and opinion
leaders to the plight of more than 44 million Americans
who lack health insurance. AACN is proud to serve as a cosponsor
of this campaign. Watch for details on how your students
can get involved in planning on-campus activities in support
of this initiative during the week of April 19, 2004. For
details, see http://covertheuninsuredweek.org.
11.
FACULTY PRACTICE CONFERENCE COMING TO SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA
The
10th AACN Faculty Practice Conference will be held February
25-26, 2004 at the Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort in
Scottsdale, Arizona. With the theme “A Decade of Dollars,
Delivery, and Data: Faculty Practice Today,” the conference
emphasizes a decade of successes in faculty practice and
considers directions for the future. Join colleagues in
discussions about funding and infrastructure for faculty
practice; faculty incentives and expectations; the changing
practice climate; evaluating faculty practice; and collecting
and using data. Poster and abstract sessions and various
small group discussions will facilitate the sharing of ideas
and successful strategies. For the first time, this conference
is held in conjunction with the Master’s Education
Conference so that faculty may take advantage of both events
for a reduced registration fee. Conference information is
available at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Conferences/facprac04.htm.
For questions, contact kpiringe@aacn.nche.edu
or 202-463-6930, ext. 242.
12.
MASTER’S EDUCATION CONFERENCE FOCUSES ON FACULTY LEADERS
The
Master’s Education Conference will be held February
26-28, 2004 at the Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort in
Scottsdale, Arizona immediately following the Faculty Practice
Conference. The conference highlights faculty as leaders
with the theme “Master’s Faculty Leaders: Making
a Difference.” Colleagues from various stakeholder
organizations will join us for dialogue about the issues
involved in educating and certifying nurse practitioners
and clinical nurse specialists. Other topics include creating
master’s-unique partnerships between education and
practice; the complexities of the master’s faculty
role; providing leadership in practice; and further development
of master’s faculty for leadership roles. Learn about
successes and share experiences in poster and abstract sessions.
Register for one of two free pre-conferences: “Complementary
and Alternative Therapies” supported by grants from
the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
and “Geriatrics and the Advanced Practice Curriculum”*
sponsored by The John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for
Geriatric Nursing (see below). Conference information is
posted at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Conferences/masters04brochure.htm.
For questions, contact kpiringe@aacn.nche.edu
or 202-463-6930, ext. 242.
Note:
The hotel cutoff date for both Faculty Practice and Master's
Education Conferences is January 26, but space may still
be available at the hotel after that date. For further hotel
information, contact the Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort
at 877-445-6677.
*This
pre-conference session will preview the new AACN document
“Recommended Advanced Practice Nursing Competencies
in Care of Older Adults.” Other topics include the
role of the advanced practice nurse in models of care for
older adults, practical approaches, and the latest resources
for integrating geriatrics into APN curriculum. In addition
to master's-level resources, participants will receive a
complimentary copy of the Partner Program CD-ROM Baccalaureate
Edition ($100 value) which may be used as a baseline of
knowledge for students entering APN programs.
13.
HRSA POSTS 2003 GRANTEE ABSTRACTS & FY 2004 FUNDING
OPPORTUNITIES
The
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awards
hundreds of grants each year to schools of nursing looking
to increase capacity, attract new faculty, provide student
scholarships, and reach out to special populations. Read
the abstracts of grant applications funded in FY 2003 at
http://www.bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/default.htm.
Details and submission deadlines for FY 2004 funding opportunities
are also posted, including information about the Nursing
Scholarship Program, Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program,
and the Faculty Loan Repayment Program. See http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/preview.
14.
EDUCATION SCHOLAR OFFERS CONVENIENT FACULTY DEVELOPMENT
AACN
offers a convenient and affordable way for nurse faculty
to enhance their reputation as a scholar and improve their
teaching skills. Education Scholar is a Web-based, interactive
program that is available in seven modules. The experience
includes reading from required references, reflective exercises
to examine beliefs about teaching and learning, and projects
that expand expertise as a health professions educator.
Once registered, participants have one year to complete
one or more of the online modules. For details, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Education/edscholar.htm.
15.
NURSING ADVANCEMENT PROFESSIONALS HOST UPCOMING MEETING
The
sixth annual Nursing Advancement Professionals Conference
will be held March 26-27, 2004 at the Fairmont Hotel in
Washington, DC with the theme "A New Era for Nursing:
Raising Money in a Time of Heightened Awareness." The
conference is designed for development officers, deans,
academic leaders, and public relations and marketing professionals
within nursing schools who wish to enhance awareness and
fundraising initiatives at their institutions. Speakers
include Kathleen Larey Lewton, past Public Relations Society
of America President, and Sondra Shaw-Hardy, author of Creating
a Women's Giving Circle: A Handbook. For complete details
and to register, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Conferences/napc04brochure.htm.
16.
BONUS NETWORK TO MEET IN SEATTLE IN APRIL
The
19th Annual Business Officers of Nursing Schools (BONUS)
conference will be held April 21-23, 2004 in Seattle, WA.
Conference brochures will be mailed to all AACN members
and business officers in early February. BONUS is dedicated
to facilitating networking among those who work in the administration
of nursing education and to providing education in areas
of business, technology, and financial and administrative
management. Assistants to the dean, fiscal managers, business
officers and any personnel involved in the operational management
of a school of nursing will benefit from this conference.
For more information, contact Jennifer Ahearn at jahearn@aacn.nche.edu.
17.
APPLICATIONS DUE IN MARCH FOR GRADUATE ELNEC TRAINING
With
funding provided by the National Cancer Institute, the End-of-Life
Nursing Education Consortium will offer the second training
for faculty in graduate nursing programs on June 24-26,
2004 in Pasadena, CA. Training is available to full- or
part-time graduate faculty interested in end-of-life care
and integrating end-of-life care knowledge and skills within
graduate degree nursing education. The application deadline
to participate in this training is March 10, 2003. For complete
details, including an application form, visit http://www.aacn.nche.edu/ELNEC/GraduateELNEC.htm.
NOTE: See the latest version of the ELNEC Connections newsletter
online at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/ELNEC/Winter04connections.pdf.
18.
RN RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION CONFERENCE RESCHEDULED
Active
Communications International has rescheduled the “Recruiting
and Retaining Registered Nurses” conference originally
planned for January 2004 to June 17-18, 2004. Hosted at
the Chateau Sonesta Hotel in New Orleans, this conference
is geared specifically for executives and key decision-makers
in the education, practice and policy arenas. Featured presenters
include AACN Executive Director Polly Bednash; Nancy Valentine
with CIGNA Health Care; Andrea Higham with Johnson &
Johnson; and health management consultant Bobbi Kimball,
among others. AACN has negotiated a $500 discount for all
deans and faculty at member institutions wishing to attend.
For registration details, contact Kevin Klein at 312-780-0700
ext. 176 or visit http://www.acius.net/pdf/pdf_cID-170.pdf.
19.
BRING YOUR STUDENTS TO WASHINGTON FOR A POLICY BRIEFING
Each
year, government affairs staff invite AACN member schools
to attend a briefing on public health policy, the political
legislative process, and nursing legislation. If you would
like to plan a trip with your nursing students to visit
Washington, DC and have them meet the AACN staff to learn
more about what Congress is doing to address the nursing
shortage, please contact Gene Throwe at gthrowe@aacn.nche.edu
or (202) 463-6930, ext. 237. This is a membership benefit
to you, and the staff would enjoy meeting your students.
20.
NATIONAL FORUM ON THE PRACTICE DOCTORATE CONVENED
On December
8, AACN and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner
Faculties co-hosted a meeting to engage a broad community
of stakeholder organizations in a National Forum on the
Practice Doctorate in Nursing. Through an open forum and
small group discussions, participants addressed general
questions on whether the practice doctorate benefits society
and the nursing profession as well as the issues to consider
from the perspectives of nursing education, practice, certification,
regulation, and accreditation. External observers from higher
education and the public health discipline provided feedback
on the discussion and insights into the professional degree.
Participants strongly recommended ongoing dialogue as a
community. See http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Education/PracticeDoctorateForum.htm.
21.
NEW PARTNERSHIPS AND GRANT-FUNDED INITIATIVES
In this
section, AACN spotlights new partnerships and initiatives
launched by members, corporate citizens, philanthropies,
and government sponsors that effectively increase student
capacity, add new nursing faculty, increase student diversity,
address the nursing shortage, and enhance the way education
is delivered.
**California
State University at Long Beach has signed a five-year, $15
million dollar contract with Long Beach Memorial Medical
Center (LBMMC) to double enrollment in the school’s
“Trimester” BSN program. Students in the program
attend classes full-time, year round, and graduate with
a BSN (132 semester units) in two years after being admitted
to the program in their sophomore year. The grant consists
of both funds and in-kind contributions. LBMMC will provide
all clinical instructors, some classroom space, and use
of a newly built, six-bed, simulated laboratory as part
of the agreement.
**San
Francisco State University (SFSU) has teamed up with Sequoia
Hospital to launch a new program that will train at least
30 additional students each year and increase the University's
undergraduate enrollment by 40 percent. With space limited
at the university campus, classes will be held at Canada
College in Redwood City with courses taught by SFSU professors.
The Sequoia Healthcare District, part owner of Sequoia Hospital,
approved the 10-year, $7.5 million deal in December. The
first students will begin classes in September 2004.
22.
MEMBER NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND AWARDS
**On
January 16, Dr. Mary Lou Bond, Interim Associate Dean for
the PhD in Nursing program at The University of Texas at
Arlington School of Nursing, presented testimony at a regional
hearing in Houston hosted by the Sullivan Commission on
Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce. Dr. Bond addressed
the shortage of ethnic and racial minority group members
in the U.S. healthcare workforce and the need for recruitment
of minority students into health careers. The 15-member
Sullivan Commission, which includes AACN Executive Director
Polly Bednash, is holding hearings in several metropolitan
areas and will release a final report on their findings
in Spring 2004.
**On
February 20-22, the University of Phoenix will rally educators
nationwide to address emerging trends in higher education
at a conference titled “The Future Reloaded.”
Presented at the Wyndham Phoenix Hotel, this event will
draw thought leaders from all sectors of education interested
in exploring a range of topics including new approaches
to how students are served; the structure of faculty work;
cross-institutional collaboration; and regulatory partnerships.
Three prominent speakers have been added to the program,
including Clara M. Lovett, president of the American Association
for Higher Education; Judith Eaton, president of the Council
for Higher Education Accreditation; and Sen. John Vasconcellos,
chair of the California State Senate’s Education Committee.
See http://www.phoenix.edu/trends2004.
23.
OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES TO CONSIDER
**On
February 11 from 2-4pm EST, the American Association of
Colleges of Pharmacy and Association of American Medical
Colleges will host a live Webcast on “Affirmative Action
in Health Professions Admissions.” Last summer, the
U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of race-conscious/ethnicity-conscious
admissions policies. This Webcast will briefly review the
Supreme Court decisions in the University of Michigan affirmative-action
cases and focus on the implications for using race and ethnicity
as factors in admissions for health profession degree programs.
Learn how to evaluate your policies based on the court's
rulings and discover what common policies and practices
may be vulnerable. Follow a health professions school's
journey in assessing its policies to accommodate the new
legal environment. Participants will have an opportunity
to ask questions during the program. Registration fee for
this program is $100 per site. For more information, see
http://www.aacp.org.
**The
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is offering
regional programs in “Third Party Reimbursement Training
& Technical Assistance.” The training is designed
to improve third party revenues for organizations that receive
grant funds directly from HRSA and organizations receiving
funds through state and local agencies that are supplemented
with HRSA grant dollars. Upcoming sessions will be held
in Decatur, GA on March 18-19 and in Chicago, IL on April
29-30. The training is free. For details, see http://www.hrsa.gov/tpr.
**On
January 21, the Bernard Hodes Group released the results
of a recent poll of 151 health care recruiters. The survey
found that the average RN turnover rate was 15.5% and the
average RN cost-per-hire was $2,651 which is approximately
11% higher than the average cost for recruiting allied health
workers. Download the complete report at http://www.hodes.com/hcrecruiting.
**URAC,
a national accreditation organization with standards for
case management programs, and CMSA, a national professional
organization for case managers, are collaborating on a proposal
to produce a conference on case management (CM) outcomes.
The project will facilitate closer linkages between case
management researchers and practitioners. The goal of the
conference will be to examine research on case management
and develop a research agenda to help case management develop
valid, measurable criteria for assessing effectiveness and
outcomes. The groups are also working to identify CM researchers
and develop a network for dissemination and innovation in
CM research. For more information, contact Liza Greenberg
at Lgreenberg@urac.org
or 202-962-8805.\
