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September
2006 News Watch
At its September 11, 2006 meeting, the AACN
Board of Directors endorsed a new set of recommendations for baccalaureate
program competencies and curricular guidelines that will help assure
high quality and safe patient care. Chaired by Dr. Nancy DeBasio,
nursing dean from the Research College of Nursing, the Task Force
on the Essential Patient Safety Competencies for Professional Nursing
Care prepared this new resource titled "The Hallmarks of Quality
and Safety in Baccalaureate Nursing Education." These recommendations
will be incorporated into the work of a future AACN task force on
the revision of the Baccalaureate Essentials. To download the hallmarks,
visit http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Education/PSHallmarks.htm.
AACN's Fall Semiannual Meeting will be held at the
Fairmont Washington hotel on October 28-31, 2006, with the theme
"Recognizing Challenges and Opportunities in Nursing Higher
Education". Speakers include Scott Jaschik, Editor of Inside
Higher Ed; Richard Ekman, President, Council of Independent Colleges,
and the John P. McGovern awardee, Dr. Louis Sullivan. During the
Monday, October 30 business meeting, members will vote on The Essentials
of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice. This new document
will be discussed Sunday, October 29, 10:00-11:30am during the task
force updates.
In response to feedback regarding the length
of the meeting and down time in the schedule, this meeting will
introduce a slightly modified format. Saturday afternoon, October
28 and Sunday morning, October 29 will offer a number of pre-meeting
activities including the popular like-schools informal discussions
and important task force updates. The meeting opens at 1pm on Sunday
and ends at noon on Tuesday, October 31. Hopefully, this format
will give attendees more flexibility in planning. For more details,
see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/conferences/06FallMtg.htm.
3.
TWO
DNP ESSENTIALS TELECONFERENCES PLANNED
In preparation for the vote by the AACN membership
on the new "Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing
Practice" or DNP Essentials, AACN is hosting two additional
teleconferences to provide an overview of the Essentials process
and to answer questions. Upcoming teleconferences will be held on
September 26 and October 16 from 3-4:30pm EDT. For the access codes
needed to participate in the teleconferences, contact Membership
Assistant Horacio Oliveira at holiveira@aacn.nche.edu.
Please note that only 100 phone lines are available for each call,
though multiple faculty members from each participating site are
encouraged to gather at each location.
The first DNP teleconference held on September
14, 2006 was recorded and can be accessed until September 26 at
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/DNP/index.htm.
Slides presented by Dr. Donna Hathaway, Chair of the DNP Essentials
Task Force, are also posted online at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/DNP/ppt/DNPTeleConf.ppt.
4.
INDEPENDENCE BLUE CROSS RECEIVES CORPORATE CITIZEN
AWARD
The AACN Board of Directors is pleased to announce
that Independence Blue Cross (IBC) of Philadelphia will receive
the association's 2006 Corporate Citizen Award. Created in 2003,
this award recognizes outstanding contributions made by private
companies and organizations in support of professional nursing education,
practice and research. IBC is being honored for its work to mitigate
the nursing shortage in Pennsylvania though the Nursing Scholars
Program, a $12 million initiative to address both the shortage of
practicing nurses and the shortage of nurse faculty. The award will
be presented to Stephen Fera, IBC's Vice President of Social Missions,
at the Fall Semiannuial Meeting on Sunday, October 29 at 5pm.
5.
UPDATE ON CNL CERTIFICATION EXAMINATION
The Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) Certification
Advisory Committee is moving forward with the development of the
CNL Certification Examination. The purpose of the examination is
to create a unique credential for graduates of master's and post-master's
CNL programs. To date, the advisory committee has hosted an item
writing workshop and formed a test examination development committee
which has also met several times. The examination is Web-based and
will be administered at the individual schools. The pilot exam will
be administered December 2006, and the first regular certification
exam will be available in Spring 2007. All CNL graduates or those
CNL students planning to graduate by December 2006 are encouraged
to participate in the pilot administration. More detailed information
will be sent to the CNL partnership schools and posted on the AACN
Web site shortly.
6.
RWJF
SEEKS PROPOSALS TO ADDRESS THE NURSING SHORTAGE
To alleviate the challenges contributing to
the nation's nursing shortage, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
(RWJF) and Northwest Health Foundation have announced a new round
of funding opportunities through the "Partners Investing in
Nursing's Future" initiative. Through this program, local and
regional foundations will receive funding to support collaborations
among nurses, workforce investment boards and community organizations
on a variety of projects, including initiatives that bolster the
nurse education system, address the nurse faculty shortage or increase
diversity in the workforce. The program will award 10 two-year grants
of up to $250,000 each. The application deadline is November 9,
2006. See http://www.rwjf.org/applications/solicited/cfp.jsp?ID=19709.
7.SCHOOLS
RECEIVE FEDERAL FUNDING TO LAUNCH DNP PROGRAMS
- Purdue University's School of Nursing has received
a $2.49 million grant from The Helene Fuld Health Trust to support
the school's new Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree. The
grant will fund an endowment for scholarships, leadership development,
and the implementation, evaluation and delivery of new programs.
Nursing doctoral students from across the nation also will have
the opportunity to partner with Purdue students on health-care
engineering projects at Summer Institutes that will increase dispersion
of new ideas and approaches. "The health-care delivery system
in the U.S. is in turmoil and has been described as broken and/or
mismanaged," said Dr. Julie Novak, head of the School of
Nursing. "We want to equip a new generation of nursing leaders
who will create genuine change in health policy, delivery systems
and patient care." See http://www.nursing.purdue.edu.
- The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New
Jersey (UMDNJ) has received two federal grants totaling nearly
$1.8 million for two new nursing education programs. The grants
will support continued development of an accelerated bachelor's
to master's degree program as well as the implementation of a
new DNP program beginning in the fall. "We are pleased that
the federal government continues to recognize and support the
important contributions UMDNJ is making to the nursing profession,"
said Dr. Sara Torres, dean at the School of Nursing. See http://sn.umdnj.edu.
- See also the news about the University of
Minnesota's new DNP program below in item #23.
8.
NIH OFFERS $35,000 IN ANNUAL STUDENT
LOAN REPAYMENT
Applications
are now being accepted for the loan repayment programs offered by
the National Institutes of Health (NIH). These programs will repay
up to $35,000 of qualified educational debt for health professionals
pursuing careers in biomedical and behavioral research. Participants
must possess a doctoral-level degree, devote 50% or more of their
time to research funded by a domestic non-profit organization or
government entity (federal, state, or local), and have educational
loan debt equal to or exceeding 20% of their institutional base
salary. The five NIH Loan Repayment Programs are for Clinical Research,
Clinical Research for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds,
Contraception and Infertility Research, Health Disparities, and
Pediatric Research. Applications must be received by December 1,
2006. See http://www.lrp.nih.gov.
9.
REQUEST
FOR APPLICATIONS ISSUED FOR CTSA AWARDS
The National Center for Research Resources
(NCRR), a branch of the NIH, has issued a Request for Applications
(RFA-RM-07-002) for health professions schools seeking a Clinical
and Translational Science Award (CTSA). The CTSA program is intended
to give new opportunities to institutions and their affiliates to
be truly innovative in proposals that transform their programs and
resources to foster clinical and translational science. With $38
million in funding available this year, up to eight awards will
be granted through this program. Universities, academic health centers,
or other research organizations conducting translational and clinical
research are eligible to apply; partnerships among schools of medicine,
dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, osteopathy, public health, engineering
and other clinically-related institutions are strongly encouraged.
Letters of intent must be received by December 18, 2006; applications
are due January 17, 2007. See http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-07-002.html.
10.
AACN SPONSORS REMAKING
AMERICAN MEDICINE SERIES ON PBS
AACN has signed on as a National Partner to
support "Remaking American Medicine™ … Health Care
for the 21st Century," a four-hour primetime television series
to be broadcast on PBS in October. The series is being produced
by the award-winning filmmaking company Crosskeys Media® and
will focus on advances in improving the quality of health care.
Major themes to be explored in the series include providing chronic
disease care that is efficient, effective and centered on the needs
of the patient; transforming acute care to ensure patient safety;
involving local communities in efforts to improve health care for
everyone; and adopting new technologies that ensure the delivery
of safer and more effective care. See http://www.aacn.nche.edu/RAM.htm.
11.
NEW RFP ISSUED
FOR AACN HISTORY PROJECT
Earlier this month, AACN issued a Request for
Proposals (RFP) for the completion of a comprehensive and critical
analysis of the association's first 40 years. This history will
span from AACN's formation in 1969 as a deans support network to
its current standing as the leading advocate for baccalaureate and
graduate nursing education. Individuals interested in completing
this analysis must submit a proposal to AACN by December 1, 2006.
For details on the RFP, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/AACNhistoryRFP.doc.
Selection of the final proposal will be made by a subcommittee of
the AACN Board, and a final decision will be made at the January
2007 Board meeting.
12.
HGNI
PROVIDES PHOTO RESOURCES TO SCHOOLS OF NURSING
As a member of the Hartford Geriatric Nursing
Initiative (HGNI), AACN is encouraging member institutions to consider
adding more images depicting care for elderly patients to their
Web sites. Presently, nursing programs use a disproportionate number
of images showing pediatric care and relatively few examples of
geriatric care. Since the majority of health care is provided to
older adults, schools may wish to use images that more accurately
convey the realities of health care delivery. To assist in this
work, The John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing,
another HGNI member, has created a catalog of geriatric nursing
photos that schools may use free of charge. See http://www.hartfordign.org/press/pictures/samplePictures.html.
13.
JOHNSON
& JOHNSON SEEKS SPONSORS FOR NEW ORLEANS GALA
Through their highly successful Promise of Nursing
events, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has raised more than $9
million over the past few years for nursing communities all across
the country. This November, organizers are planning a special gala
event in New Orleans to benefit nurses impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
Though J&J will cover the costs associated with this event,
the company is looking for donors to pledge $400 to sponsor individual
nurses who will be recognized at this event. Monies raised will
stay in Louisiana to help rebuild the nursing community and fund
faculty scholarships. AACN has already committed to sponsoring a
number of nurses, and we hope that each member institution will
sponsor at least one person at this special event. For more details,
see http://www.discovernursing.com/form.pdf.
14.
NEW DIRECTORY
OF DEAN PHOTOS POSTED ON THE WEB
To enhance networking among member institutions,
AACN has created a new directory featuring photographs of the dean
or director from each school of nursing. With more than 300 photographs
included in this directory, deans are listed alphabetically by state.
Contact information was not included since that information is available
using the Online Membership Directory found in the Members Only
section of the AACN Web site. To access the directory, which is
in Members Only, visit http://www.aacn.nche.edu/MembersOnly/index.asp.
New photos will be added as they are received.
15.
AACN
ISSUES CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
AACN's Nominating Committee has issued a Call
for Nominations for candidates to fill five Board seats and two
committee vacancies. Chaired by Dr. Pamela Watson from the University
of Texas Medical Branch School of Nursing, the committee will choose
the slate of candidates at the 2006 Fall Meeting based on nominations
and the committee's deliberations. The positions under consideration
are Treasurer, Board Member-at-Large (4 vacancies), and Nominating
Committee (2 vacancies). Nominations must be received by October
28, 2006. See http://www.aacn.nche.edu/MembersOnly/CallforNominations.asp.
16.
SCHOOLS ANNOUNCE INTERNATIONAL NURSING COLLABORATIONS
- Arizona State University's College of Nursing
& Healthcare Innovation is partnering with the Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO) to improve nursing and develop the
healthcare workforce in more than 40 countries in the Americas.
As a first step, the Center for the Advancement of Evidence-based
Practice (CAEP) at ASU will conduct a half-day workshop on evidence-based
practice in collaboration with the Colombia (South America) School
of Nursing at the 10th Regional Research Colloquium in Buenos
Aires, Argentina in November 2006. See http://nursing.asu.edu/news/articles/paho.htm.
- The Vanderbilt University School of Nursing (VUSN)recently
hosted the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization
(PAHO/WHO) for a special signing ceremony in Nashville to mark
the first official step toward a new collaboration. "This
is the beginning of the beginning of a partnership that will allow
VUSN, and, therefore, Vanderbilt University to have far-reaching
effects in this important area of the Western Hemisphere,"
said VUSN dean Colleen Conway-Welch. See http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/nursing.
- The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing,
in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO-Geneva)
and other partners, launched the Global Alliance for Nursing and
Midwifery Community of Practice on September 11, 2006. This new
online community has been designed to offer nurses and midwives
throughout the world - despite their geographic location and physical
settings - a forum for sharing ideas, best practices, and new
knowledge. Hopkins invites nurses, midwives, and other health
care professionals worldwide to join the Community of Practice
to share views, experience, and expertise. See http://my.ibpinitiative.org/public/ganm.
17.
NEW GERONTOLOGY PROJECT DIRECTOR WELCOMED
On September 1, 2006, AACN welcomed Laurie
Dodge, MSN, ANP, GNP, as the new project director for the Enhancing
Gerontology Content in Senior-level Baccalaureate Courses grant.
A former Creating Careers project investigator, Laurie comes to
AACN as an experienced faculty member from the University Of Texas
Health Science Center San Antonio School of Nursing. At UTHSCSA,
she established and directed the Gerontological Nurse Practitioner
Program and maintained a geriatric specialized clinical practice.
In 2005, Laurie was the recipient of a UTHSCSA President's Teaching
Excellence Award and was a nominee for the UTHSCSA President's Clinical
Excellence Award. Her special interests include maximizing quality
of life and functional ability in the elderly, early detection and
treatment of dementia, and standards of care for managing Type 2
Diabetes Mellitus. AACN is delighted to welcome Laurie as a member
of our gerontology team.
18.
AACN
TO OFFER GERONOTOLOGY FACULTY DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTES
AACN is pleased to announce the dates and locations
for the first three Faculty Development Institutes offered through
the Geriatric Nursing Education Consortium (GNEC). GNEC is an innovative
national initiative to enhance geriatric content in senior-level
baccalaureate courses. Administered by AACN, this program provides
nursing educators with the skills, knowledge and resources needed
to ensure that the "best geriatric practices" are imbedded
in baccalaureate curricula and subsequently in the clinical care
provided by newly educated nurses. Using a "train-the-trainer"
approach, nurse faculty attending the GNEC institutes are expected
to serve as leaders and mentors by sharing their new expertise with
colleagues. This program is generously funded by The John A. Hartford
Foundation. The first three institutes are scheduled for June 27-29,
2007 in Portland, OR; October 3-5, 2007 in Atlanta, GA; and February
27-29, 2008 in San Antonio, TX. Online registration will be available
later this fall. For more details, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Education/Hartford/gnec.htm.
19.
HEARING HELD ON DRAFT LEGISLATION TO REAUTHORIZE NIH
On September 13, AACN staff attended a town
hall meeting on NIH reauthorization legislation with key staff from
the Energy & Commerce Committee. Staff reviewed the third draft
of the legislation outlining changes from the prior draft offered
in August 2005. This draft did not include a classification of Institutes
and Centers into two categories of "mission-specific"
and "science-enabling" as anticipated. The draft bill
also limits the number of Institutes or Centers, authorizes a fund
for trans-NIH research initiatives, and creates a system of cataloging
and reporting of all NIH grants. On September 19, staff attended
the hearing where Dr. Elias Zerhouni, NIH Director, presented his
thoughts on the reauthorization of NIH. The Energy & Commerce
Committee completed a mark up on the bill on September 20.
20.
FNINR HOSTS 20TH
ANNIVERSARY NIGHTINGALA CELEBRATION
The Friends of the National Institute of Nursing
Research (FNINR) is pleased to announce that this year's Nightingala
celebration in Washington, DC is planned for October 11 from 6-10pm.
In celebration of two decades of nursing research, investigators
from around the country will come together to look back at where
we started 20 years ago, assess the current body of research, and
imagine nursing research in the year 2026. Cokie Roberts, senior
news analyst for National Public Radio and political commentator
for ABC News, will deliver the keynote address. More than 1,000
researchers, deans, faculty, members of Congress, and corporate
leaders are expected to attend. For details including sponsorship
opportunities, see http://www.friendsninr.org/events.html.
21.
ELNEC TRAINING OFFERED
PRIOR TO THE AACN MASTER'S CONFERENCE
On February 21-22, 2007, the End-of-Life Nursing
Education Consortium (ELNEC) project will offer the ELNEC-Graduate
train-the-trainer course immediately prior to AACN's Master's Conference
in Albuquerque, NM. Though the ELNEC-Graduate curriculum is geared
for graduate nursing faculty, undergraduate nursing faculty are
invited to attend, as well. Since 2001, 502 undergraduate nursing
faculty from 460 (69%) baccalaureate nursing programs, and 300 graduate
nursing faculty from 255 (58%) graduate schools of nursing from
all 50 states and the District of Columbia have received ELNEC training.
For further information about this course, the ten ELNEC courses
planned for 2007, or the ELNEC project, go to http://www.aacn.nche.edu/ELNEC.
22.
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.
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee (BCBST) Health
Foundation has awarded Vanderbilt University a $2.48 million,
four-year grant to study premature births in high-risk women.
This is the largest grant ever made by BCBST, and it will make
a significant collaborative project possible that may save babies'
lives and millions of dollars in health care money for Tennesseans.
The grant funds Tennessee Connections for Better Birth Outcomes,
a research project led by Dr. Patricia Temple, professor of Pediatrics
and medical director for Nurses for Newborns, and Dr. Melanie
Lutenbacher, associate professor of Nursing and Pediatrics and
director of the PhD in Nursing Science Program at the Vanderbilt
University School of Nursing. See http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/nursing/media/release720.html.
- The University of Maryland School of Nursing
has received the first year of funding, in the amount of $200,000,
on a three-year program to develop a comprehensive higher education
program for increasing awareness about the fight against breast
cancer. "The Komen Maryland Affiliate Nursing Partnership:
Advancing Education and Practice" - an innovative partnership
with the Maryland Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer
Foundation - is the first of its kind in the nation linking the
Komen Foundation with a nursing school. "This funding initiative
is intended to model a unique and innovative way for the Komen
Foundation to emphasize critically important roles that nurses
play in the fight against breast cancer," says Robin Prothro,
executive director of Komen's Maryland affiliate and an alumna
of the School of Nursing. See http://nursing.umaryland.edu/news/2006/8-28.htm.
23. MEMBER NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND AWARDS
- The University of Minnesota Board of Regents recently
authorized the School of Nursing to offer two new graduate nursing
degrees, both geared toward clinical practice: a Doctor of Nursing
Practice (DNP) and an accelerated Master of Nursing (MN) degree.
Dean Connie Delaney said: "Adding these clinical programs
will help us bring together state-of-the-science research, education
and practice. This is an important dynamic. It will challenge
our students and researchers. It will enhance our ability to develop
clinical leaders and it will contribute to the school's environment
as an exciting place to make discoveries that improve people's
health and well being."
See http://www.nursing.umn.edu/News/DNPMN/home.html.
- Dr. Harriet R. Feldman, dean of the Lienhard School
of Nursing at Pace University has accepted a one-year position
as Interim Dean of the School of Education, effective September
1, 2006. This new role is in addition to
her current position in nursing. See http://appserv.pace.edu/execute/page.cfm?doc_id=558.
- Dr. Andrea Lindell, dean of nursing at the University
of Cincinnati (UC), is leading a quality review of the Kingdom
of Jordan's 22 associate and six baccalaureate nursing programs.
The external review of Jordan's nursing programs is sponsored
by the Hussein Fund for Excellence, a nonprofit organization,
and is being conducted by the Washington, DC-based Center for
Quality Assurance in International Education (CQAIE). The CQAIE
selected Lindell to head the review. "I'm very honored to
be selected as the U.S. representative to help Jordan measure
the quality of its nursing programs and ultimately raise the standards
they use to judge themselves," Lindell says. See http://healthnews.uc.edu/news/?/3114.
- Dr. Gail W. Stuart, professor and dean of
the Medical University of South Carolina College of Nursing, was
appointed Chair of the Board of Directors of the Annapolis Coalition
on Behavioral Health Workforce. The mission of the Annapolis Coalition
is to build a national consensus on the nature of the behavioral
health workforce crisis and to promote improvements in the quality
and relevance of education and training by identifying and implementing
change strategies. To move this agenda forward, the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has engaged
with the Annapolis Coalition to work with a broad constituency
of stakeholders to develop a National Strategic Plan on Behavioral
Health Workforce Development. See http://www.annapoliscoalition.org.
24.
AACN OUTREACH AND ADVOCACY UPDATE
- On September 19, staff attended a presentation
titled, "Personalized Medicine: from Promise to Practice"
hosted by Research!America. Speakers addressed interface between
genomics, screening, data collection, and electronic medical records.
Policy implications include consideration of genetic nondiscrimination
legislation and realignment of the payment system for disease
screening and prevention.
- On September 13, AACN, along with members of the
Federation of Associations of Schools of the Health Professions,
attended a meeting with Dr. Elizabeth Duke, chief administrator
for the Health Services Resources Administration. The group discussed
how the agency is dealing with programs eliminated in the Bureau
of Health Professions and the outlook for FY 2007 appropriations.
- On September 12, AACN attended a meeting of the
Wye River Group on Health to provide insights on financial and
non-financial incentives to create new models of health care delivery.
- On September 11, AACN along with the Coalition
for Health Funding met with key staff at the Office of Management
and Budget to review the funding for FY 2007 and preparation for
FY 2008 process.
- On September 8, staff attended a meeting titled,
"Severe Chronic Illness: What Explains Cost and Quality Variations"
hosted by the Alliance for Health Reform and others. Speakers
from the Dartmouth Atlas Project presented their analyses on Medicare
spending and services data from 1992 and the policy implications.
- On August 31, AACN accompanied several analysts
from the Office of Management and Budget on a site visit to the
University of Virginia, School of Nursing. The insights regarding
the effects federal grant funding has on operation and capacity
at a school of nursing will assist the analysts in establishing
budget priorities.
25.
OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES TO CONSIDER
- The National Environmental Education & Training
Foundation (NEETF) announced the launch of a new Web site with
environmental health training tools for pediatric health care
providers. Developed as part of the Children's Environmental Health
Faculty Champions Initiative, the Web site provides resources
to help health care professionals address children's environmental
health issues. See http://www.neetf.org/health/champions.
- Sponsored by the Institute at the Center for Health
Policy Research and Ethics at George Mason University, the 15th
Annual Washington Health Policy Institute is scheduled for June
4-8, 2007 in Arlington, VA. Participants will learn about how
policy is made, how problems drive action, the federal budget
process, challenges facing the U.S. healthcare structure, how
to conduct a meeting with policy-makers, and other key advocacy
skills. See http://hpi.gmu.edu.
- On March 5-9, 2007 in Washington, DC, the American
College of Nurse Practitioners will present a Public Policy Institute
for Health Professionals. Take advantage of this opportunity to
network and discuss current health care policy, legislation, and
practice issues that are critical to advancing Nurse-Manager and
APN roles while meeting with a multidisciplinary group health
professionals. For more information, contact 703-740-2529 or policyinstitute@acnpweb.org.
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