January 2008 News Watch 1.  AACN Members Encouraged to Vote in the 2008 Board Election 2.  RWJF Launches New Nurse Faculty Scholars Program 3.  Join Us for AACN’s Faculty Development Conference 4.  Nominations Sought for the 2008 Corporate Citizens Award 5.  AACN Faculty Practice and Master's Conferences Coming in February 6.  Plan Now to Attend the Nursing Advancement Professionals Conference 7.  Updates Needed for Online Deans’ Photo Directory 8.  Final Baccalaureate Essentials Regional Meetings Planned 9.  Apply Now for an Interprofessional Fellowship in Patient Safety 10.  NCEMNA Sponsors Annual Conference this March in San Diego 11. Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing Introduces Web Resource 12. Apply Now for a Gerontology-Focused Faculty Development Institute 13. Wide Variety of ELNEC Courses Planned for 2008 14. Graduate Nursing Admissions Professionals Gather in Texas 15. Scholars Program Seeks Applications from Graduate Nursing Students 16. Discover Resources Available through PERC 17. New Partnerships and Grant-Funded Initiatives 18. Member News, Announcements and Awards 19. AACN Outreach and Advocacy Update 20. Opportunities and Resources to Consider   1. AACN MEMBERS ENCOURAGED TO VOTE IN THE 2008 BOARD ELECTION Online balloting for AACN’s 2008 Election to fill seats on the Board of Directors and Nominating Committee is currently underway. Deans/Directors of AACN member institutions are encouraged to cast votes by Monday, January 28.  The slate of candidates vying for open seats include: President-Elect: Kathleen Potempa, University of Michigan, and Pamela Watson, University of Texas Medical Branch Secretary: Jane Kirschling, University of Kentucky, and Heidi Taylor, West Texas A& M University Board Member-at-Large: Christine Alichnie, Bloomsburg University; Tim Gaspar, Winona State University; Alexia Green, Texas Tech University; Martha Hill, Johns Hopkins University; Carolina Huerta, University of Texas Pan American; Juliann Sebastian, University of Missouri-St. Louis Nominating Committee: Melanie Dreher, Rush University Medical Center; Caroline Harvey, East Texas Baptist University; Patricia Kraft, Carson Newman College; Carolyn Yucha, University of Nevada Las Vegas For details on how to cast your vote, contact rrosseter@aacn.nche.edu. 2. RWJF LAUNCHES NEW NURSE FACULTY SCHOLARS PROGRAM Earlier this month, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) announced a new scholars program to develop the next generation of national leaders in academic nursing. The RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholars program will provide $28 million over the next five years to outstanding junior nursing faculty to help them advance in their fields and seek faculty positions earlier in their careers by providing mentorship, leadership training, salary, and research support. The National Program Office will be housed at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing with Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell serving as the program director. Applicants must be nominated by the dean of a fully-accredited U.S. nursing school and meet the eligibility requirements. Applications are due April 1, 2008. For complete details including eligibility and selection criteria, see http://www.rwjf.org. 3. JOIN US FOR AACN’S FACULTY DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE In response to the number of enthusiastic participants at last year’s inaugural event, AACN offers the second annual Faculty Development Conference February 7-9, 2008 at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel, Nashville, TN.  Designed for early-career nurse educators, the conference is aimed at those new to the faculty role and those who would like to gain more self-confidence in teaching in baccalaureate and higher degree programs.  Topics include the academic mission and the faculty role, learner-centered teaching, creating an active learning environment, clinical teaching and evaluation, test construction and analysis, and being successful in an academic career. Three sets of concurrent sessions encourage participants to select topics according to their own needs and interests. See http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Conferences/08FacDev.htm. 4. NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR THE 2008 CORPORATE CITIZENS AWARD AACN’s Board of Directors is seeking nominations for the 2008 Corporate Citizen Award.  This honor was created to show appreciation and provide national recognition for significant and sustained corporate support for professional nursing education. Nominees typically have demonstrated a commitment of $10 million or more over time to professional nursing programs, and this support has benefited at least three schools of nursing.  Nominations are made directly to the Board of Governors via a letter that must be received by January 31, 2008. Award recipients will be recognized at the Spring Annual Meeting. For complete details including award criteria, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/MemberServices/docs/CCA.doc. 5. AACN FACULTY PRACTICE AND MASTER'S CONFERENCES COMING IN FEBRUARY The biennial Faculty Practice Conference will be held February 20-21, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach in Newport Beach, CA. The theme, Faculty Practice: Today’s Challenges, Tomorrow’s Possibilities,serves as a framework for discussion by those active in clinical practice in an academic setting.  Issues unique to this demanding type of academic appointment are explored.  Topics include what practice means in our current environment; integrating practice into the faculty role; practice finance issues; and outcomes and quality of practice.  For conference registration and hotel information, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/conferences/08Masters.htm#fp. The Master’s Education Conference will be held February 21-23, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach in Newport Beach, CA.  The theme, Shaping the Future of Master’s Education in Nursing,supports program, abstract, and concurrent sessions on a variety of topics specific to master's level nursing education.  Topics include the intergenerational nature of nurses and students; the Millennial generation as master's students; revision of CCNE accreditation standards; and transitioning toward the CNL and DNP.  Concurrent sessions encourage smaller groups to consider topics of interest including using simulation; improving student writing; integrating quality, safety, and collaboration into the master's curriculum; ensuring infrastructure for APN education; and teaching genetics/genomics. For conference registration and hotel information, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/conferences/08Masters.htm. 6. PLAN NOW TO ATTEND THE NURSING ADVANCEMENT PROFESSIONALS CONFERENCE “Eyes Wide Open: Looking through the Constituent's Perspective” is the theme of the 2008 AACN Nursing Advancement Professionals (NAP) Conference set for March 28-29, 2008.  The tenth annual conference will be held at The Fairmont Washington, DC.  The conference is designed for development officers, public relations and marketing professionals, deans of colleges of nursing, and other academic leaders.  The NAP conference is an excellent opportunity to gain critical information to enhance your college of nursing and to network with fellow colleagues. For a description of program topics and registration information, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Conferences/08nap.htm. 7. UPDATES NEEDED FOR ONLINE DEANS’ PHOTO DIRECTORY To enhance networking among member institutions, AACN has created an online directory featuring photographs of the dean or director from each school of nursing. With over 300 photographs included in this directory, deans are listed alphabetically by state. Please take a moment to peruse this document and let us know if your listing is accurate. To access the directory, a Members Only benefit, visit http://www.aacn.nche.edu/MembersOnly/index.asp. If you would like to add your photograph to this resource, please send your photo to AACN’s Webmaster Laura Guetter at lguetter@aacn.nche.edu 8. FINAL BACCALAUREATE ESSENTIALS REGIONAL MEETINGS PLANNED The AACN Task Force on the Revision of the Essentials for Baccalaureate Nursing Education is working to define the expected competencies of graduates of baccalaureate nursing programs with input from many stakeholders. The latest version of the revised Essentials is posted online at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Education/pdf/BEdraft.pdf. This document is the topic of discussion at a series of regional meetings sponsored through April 2008. These meetings will give stakeholders the opportunity to review and provide feedback regarding the Essentials, including program outcomes. Deans and directors from AACN member institutions, faculty, practice partners, and representatives of other healthcare and education organizations are invited to attend. The final two meetings are scheduled for March 13-14 in Nashville and April 24-25 in Boston. See http://www.aacn.nche.edu/BACEssentMtg.htm. 9. APPLY NOW FOR AN INTERPROFESSIONAL FELLOWSHIP IN PATIENT SAFETY The purpose of the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Interprofessional Fellowship Program in Patient Safety is to develop leaders with vision, knowledge, and commitment to lead patient safety efforts in the 21st century.  The program includes both patient safety specific and supporting core competencies: (1) Patient Safety Specific (Theoretical Underpinnings), (2) Teamwork and Collaboration, (3) Transformational Leadership, (4) Patient-Centered Care, (5) Evidence-Based Practice, and (5) Informatics and Use of Data. During the one-year, full-time fellowship program, the fellow is expected to complete one significant patient safety project under the supervision of an established expert in patient safety. Fellows are encouraged, but not required, to seek employment at the VA after completion of the fellowship. This fellowship location is the Lexington VA Hospital, Lexington, KY in collaboration with the VA National Center for Patient Safety and partnership with the University of Kentucky. Applications are due February 1 for Fellowships beginning July 1, 2008. For more details, see http://www.va.gov/oaa or contact Dr. Joseph Conigliaro at joseph.conigliaro@va.gov or 859-323-5845. 10. NCEMNA SPONSORS ANNUAL CONFERENCE THIS MARCH IN SAN DIEGO The National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations (NCEMNA) is pleased to announce its Fourth Annual Conference, “Creating Research Careers: Setting the Bar High - Aiming for Excellence,” will be held March 7-9, 2008.  The goal of this conference is to stimulate and inform ethnic minority nurses to growing opportunities in research.  The conference will be held at the Marriott San Diego Mission Valley in San Diego, CA. Attendees will learn more about NCEMNA’s strategic initiatives, including the Nurse Scientist Stimulation Program and the Mentee/Mentor Program. NCEMNA will award 45 scholarships to faculty and students in nursing schools in the San Diego area, which will cover the cost of registration, all sessions, and meals. For more details and to register online, see http://www.ncemna.org/conference/confwelcome08.html. 11. HARTFORD INSTITUTE FOR GERIATRIC NURSING INTRODUCES WEB RESOURCE The Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing at the New York University College of Nursing has launched a new Web site, ConsultGeriRN.org, an evidence-based authority on the care of older adults. The site was developed as a resource for nurses in clinical and educational settings to provide up-to-the-minute information on best practices in caring for older adults and treating a wide range of symptoms and syndromes that particularly affect them.  The site is part of the work of the Hartford Institute to enhance geriatric competence in hospitals and specialty nursing practice. Dr. Mathy Mezey, professor and director of the institute said, "The Hartford Institute is committed to continuing to provide resources through ConsultGeriRN.org, a Web site that substantially enhances nurses' access to new and expanded Web-based geriatric education offerings created by the Hartford Institute and by the nursing specialty associations." 12. APPLY NOW FOR A GERONTOLOGY-FOCUSED FACULTY DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE AACN is accepting online applications for the upcoming Faculty Development Institutes offered through the Geriatric Nursing Education Consortium (GNEC). This innovative national initiative was launched 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 next institute is scheduled for October 14-16, 2008 in St. Louis, MO.  For more information or to apply, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/gnec.htm.           13. WIDE VARIETY OF ELNEC COURSES PLANNED FOR 2008 The End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) offers a variety of train-the-trainer courses for nurse educators across settings. Nine courses will be offered in 2008, including Core and Super Core programs in addition to specialty sessions focused on Geriatrics, Critical Care and Pediatrics. For a complete schedule of upcoming courses, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/ELNEC/CourseSchedule.htm. Please note that the Critical Care course offered on April 21-23, 2008 offers free registration for California nurses, including nursing faculty, thanks to the generous support of the Archstone Foundation. For more information about ELNEC, contact Project Director Pam Malloy at pmalloy@aacn.nche.edu. 14. GRADUATE NURSING ADMISSIONS PROFESSIONALS GATHER IN TEXAS   AACN’s Graduate Nursing Admissions Professionals (GNAP) Network will host their annual conference on March 25-26, 2008 in Grapevine, TX. GNAP is composed of a diverse group of nursing education administrators and faculty who are responsible for graduate nursing student recruitment, admissions, marketing, and programming. Presented with the theme “From the Audacious to the Routine: Tools for Successful Graduate Nursing Recruitment,” the conference provides a chance for recruiters to share successes, develop new strategies, and establish a resource network of peers. Sessions will focus on recruitment essentials, compliance challenges, innovative recruiting methods, sources of financial aid, and how to counsel applicants when they ask: Is the DNP or PhD right for me? For complete details and to register, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Conferences/08gnap.htm. 15. SCHOLARS PROGRAM SEEKS APPLICATIONS FROM GRADUATE NURSING STUDENTS The annual Paul Ambrose Health Promotion Student Leadership Symposium will take place on June 26-29, 2008 in Washington, DC. This prestigious symposium engages graduate nursing, medical, physician assistant, dentistry, and PharmD student leaders in addressing the future of public health. The program features skills-based leadership education and training in content areas such as health policy, health literacy, and health care finance and delivery. Following the symposium, students will complete a faculty-mentored project at their institution or in the community. Applications are due February 11, 2008. See http://www.aptrweb.org. 16. DISCOVER RESOURCES AVAILABLE THROUGH PERC The Prevention Education Resource Center (PERC) is the premier online repository for prevention and population health education materials.  PERC promotes collaboration across health care disciplines, clinical and public health professions, and institutions by facilitating the exchange of teaching resources and connecting educators across colleges and universities, health professions programs, and continuing education activities.  PERC strives to increase the teaching of health promotion and disease prevention in health professions education and to ensure that all undergraduates have access to education in public health. PERC is supported by a grant from the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation of New York to the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research. To find out more about what resources are available, visit http://www.teachprevention.org. 17. 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. The Simmons College Department of Nursing is pleased to announce the creation of The Legacy Fund for Faculty Nurse Scholars, which was established by a $1 million gift from an anonymous family of donors. This funding will be used to support a variety of departmental activities aimed at promoting faculty scholarship, recruitment, and retention. The Legacy Fund will help finance everything from course-release time (to pursue doctoral course work, dissertation research, tenure preparation, and more) to stipends for independent scholarship. Funds also will be available for professional development opportunities. Dr. Judy Beal, nursing department chair, was instrumental in engendering support for this generous gift and creating The Legacy Fund. See http://www.simmons.edu/academics/undergraduate/nursing. 18. MEMBER NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND AWARDS Dr. Rodney W. Hicks, faculty member at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing, was recently presented the University Medical Center (UMC) Health System Endowed Chair in Patient Safety. Established in 2007, this $1 million endowment was established to promote excellence in the clinical care of patients and a culture of patient safety for nursing students and the clinical staff at UMC. This endowed chair is the first-of-its-kind for patient safety in any school of nursing in the nation. “With the establishment of this chair, UMC and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center will positively impact patients, students and faculty into the future,” said Dr. Alexia Green, dean of the school of nursing.  See http://www.ttuhsc.edu/son. More than 300 healthcare professionals are expected to attend the 9th Annual Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) Conference held in Phoenix on February 13–15. The Center for the Advancement of EBP at the College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation at Arizona State University is hosting the conference at the Renaissance Glendale Hotel & Spa. The first day of the conference will feature focused workshop presentations by leading EBP experts on: EBP Basics & Beyond; Systematic Reviews: Using Evidence to Impact Outcomes; Teaching Evidence-Based Practice for Educators; and Making EBP a Reality in Your Organization. Days two and three of the conference will feature speakers from across the country and globe focusing on acting on the evidence to impact outcomes through EBP in five specialty tracks, including Acute/Critical Care; Aging; Children, Teens and Families; EBP Implementation; and Psychiatric Mental Health. For information, call 480-965-7431, e-mail ACE@asu.edu, or go to http://nursing.asu.edu/caep/conference/index/htm. The University of New Mexico (UNM) has received a five-year, $4.8 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to increase the quantity and diversity of nurses with knowledge of health policy.  Specifically, the grant will establish a health policy concentration in the nursing Ph.D. program at UNM, and support student scholarships and research.  In addition, students will receive tuition and living expenses, along with resources for computers, books and travel.   This commitment complements the mission of the RWJF Center for Health Policy at UNM (Center) that was launched in 2006. For more details, see http://www.rwjf.org. 19. AACN OUTREACH AND ADVOCACY UPDATE On January 18, 2008, staff attended the Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs’ (NOVA) legislative roundtable. The nursing and veterans groups in attendance expressed concerns about the funding for Veteran Affairs (VA)’ programs, recruitment and retention of nurses into the VA system and information technology. For more information, see http://www.vanurse.org/legislative.html. On January 16, 2008, staff attended a meeting held by the National Science Foundation to discuss the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering. AACN was invited to give insight into the revisions of the survey, particularly in regards to collecting data on nursing doctoral students. For more information on the survey, see http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc. On January 11, 2008, Dr. Barbara Moran from The Catholic University of America School of Nursing represented AACN at a meeting of the Sullivan Alliance for Diversity in the Health Professions held in Washington, D.C. Alliance members discussed their outreach plans for 2008, including strategic initiatives and budgeting. AACN is grateful to Dr. Moran for representing the interests of professional nursing education at this meeting. On January 10, 2008, AACN staff participated in a meeting sponsored by the federal Division of Nursing to discuss plans for the 2008 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses.  Invited participants from nursing's leading organizations reviewed the plan for the upcoming survey and provided input about what data needs to be captured.  Survey coordinators are planning to begin the survey this spring and project that preliminary results will be available by mid-2009.  For a link to the 2004 survey, see http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/rnsurvey04. On December 14, 2007, staff attended the Federation of Associations of Schools of the Health Professions (FASHP) meeting for Government Affairs. The major discussion item was the planning for a possible Title VII Health Professions reauthorization. For more information, see http://www.paeaonline.org/fashp.htm. On December 13, 2007, staff attended the Coalition for Health Funding’s (CHF) Annual Meeting. The CHF members discussed the goals and priorities for the FY 2009 appropriations cycle. For more information regarding the CHF and those organizations who are a member, see http://www.aamc.org/advocacy/healthfunding/start.htm. 20. OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES TO CONSIDER The Association for Prevention Teaching and Research and the American Association of Colleges and Universities are sponsoring an Undergraduate Curriculum Development Institute titled “The Educated Citizen and Public Health” on July 14-15, 2008 in Crystal City, VA. Faculty and administrative teams from as many as 48 colleges and universities (both those with public health schools and programs and those without them) will gather for an intensive, two-day institute. Teams will work to develop coherent undergraduate curricula in public health, including core courses, electives, and experiential learning opportunities.  Such coherent curricula may take the form of majors, minors, certificate programs, etc. The application deadline is February 27, 2008. For complete details, see http://www.aacu.org/public_health/SummerInstitute08.cfm. The NIH Director’s New Innovator Award is designed to support new investigators who propose bold and highly innovative research approaches that have the potential to produce a major impact on broad, important problems in biomedical and behavioral research.  Application Submission/Receipt Deadline: March 31, 2008. Complete information is available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/new_investigators/innovator_award. As a reminder, the deadline for applications to National Institute of Nursing Research's (NINR’s) 2008 Summer Genetics Institute (SGI) is March 3, 2008. The SGI is a two-month, intensive summer research training program designed to provide nurse scientists, doctoral students, and advanced nurse clinicians with a foundation in genetics for use in research and clinical practice. The program will run from June 8-August 1, 2008. For more information, visit http://www.ninr.nih.gov/Training/TrainingOpportunitiesIntramural. The South Texas Environmental Education and Research (STEER) program is seeking applications for positions in February and April for students in nursing, medicine, allied health and public health who have interests in international health, border health, cultural aspects of health and environmental health. Students participate in experiential learning in the communities of Laredo/Nuevo Laredo or Harlingen/Matamoros at the U.S.-Mexico Border.  The STEER program has received state and national awards for its community-based "hands-on" approach to training health professionals in public health. Tuition and housing are provided free of charge. For more details, see http://steer.uthscsa.edu. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has recently completed a strategic planning process which included gathering recommendations from the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse and through ongoing dialogue with various stakeholder groups. NIDA's Draft Strategic Plan outlines four major goal areas – Prevention, Treatment, HIV/AIDS, and Cross Cutting Priorities – each with Strategic Objectives that will guide NIDA's research agenda for the future. The public is invited to review this draft plan -- accessible through the NIDA web site link http://www.drugabuse.gov/StrategicPlan/Index.html -- and provide comments via email to stratplan@nida.nih.gov. Comments must be submitted by February 6, 2008. If you would like to have your email removed from the distribution list, send an email to lguetter@aacn.nche.edu with the subject “UNSUBSCRIBE NEWS WATCH”. 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