Continuing the Creativity and Connections: The Massachusetts Initiative to Update the Nurse of the Future Nursing Core Competencies.

AIM: This article describes the collaborative effort of nursing education and practice to update the Massachusetts Nurse of the Future Nursing Core Competencies. BACKGROUND: The Nurse of the Future Nursing Core Competencies were published in 2010. With the establishment of the Massachusetts Action Coalition, a primary goal was to continue to promote the integration of these competencies into all education and practice settings throughout Massachusetts and share this process with other states. METHOD: Through an updated literature review and consultation with subject matter experts, the Nurse of the Future Competency Committee developed a process to ensure that significant practice advances were reflected in each of the competencies. RESULTS: The updated Nurse of the Future Nursing Core Competencies were published in March 2016. CONCLUSION: The updated competencies capture the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed for all nurses to create a culture of health across the continuum of health care.

The Competency/Outcomes Model: Advancing Academic Progression.

AIM: This article describes the Competency Model (CM) as a promising curriculum framework to foster academic progression from the associate to the baccalaureate degree in nursing. BACKGROUND: The CM was identified by the Center to Champion Nursing in America as one of four seamless nursing academic progression models to streamline nursing academic progression. It is built on a foundation of authentic collaboration between education and practice partners to develop and maintain explicit, current, practice-relevant nursing education outcomes. METHOD: Salient features and exemplars were collected from a convenience sample of education practice partnerships across the country that have implemented the CM. RESULTS: Characteristics, trends, and variations in the CM from different state, regional, and local approaches are described and contrasted. CONCLUSION: A comparison of varied approaches in CM design and implementation demonstrates its versatility to support seamless academic progression and fortify education and practice collaboration.

Shared Curriculum Model: A Promising Practice for Education Transformation.

BACKGROUND: The shared curriculum model is one of four successful models of academic progression identified through a consensus-building process facilitated by The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, AARP, and the AARP Foundation. METHOD: Seamless academic progression from the associate degree in nursing (ADN) to the baccalaureate degree in nursing (BSN) is achieved either by simultaneously revising both ADN and BSN curricula or by making targeted adjustments in ADN or BSN curricula to create a unified academic progression. Systematic vetting and definitive agreement on nursing prerequisites and corequisites, general education courses, nursing major content, and general degree requirements are necessary to ensure coordinated degree progression. A standardized set of expectations for beginning professional practice and for unique baccalaureate nursing knowledge ensures vital nursing content across the ADN-to-BSN continuum. RESULTS: Examples of state and regional ADN-to-BSN progression programs using the shared curriculum model are highlighted. CONCLUSION: The shared curriculum model is a promising practical and sustainable approach to seamless ADN-to-BSN academic progression.

Nursing Education Transformation: Promising Practices in Academic Progression.

BACKGROUND: Health care has changed over the past decade; yet, nursing education has not kept pace with social and scientific advances. The Institute of Medicine report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, called for a more highly educated nursing work-force and an improved nursing education system. Since the release of that report, the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, AARP, and the AARP Foundation, has worked with nursing education leaders to better understand existing and evolving nursing education structures. METHOD: Through a consensus-building process, four overarching promising practice models, with an emphasis on seamless academic progression, emerged to advance the goals of education transformation. RESULTS: Key nurse educators and other stakeholders refined those models through a series of meetings, collaborative partnerships, and focused projects that were held across the United States. CONCLUSION: This article summarizes that process and provides a description of the models, challenges, common themes, recommendations, and progress to date.

Primary care nurse practitioner clinical education: challenges and opportunities.

The Institute of Medicine report and the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act present significant opportunities for the nursing profession. As the largest group of primary care providers, nurse practitioners are the critical element in the provision of comprehensive primary care, and a critical element to the success of the redesigned health care system. Nurse practitioners can bridge the gap between coverage and access and provide the patient-centered innovative approaches needed. There are, however, significant barriers that need to be addressed. This article presents a framework for creating innovative approaches to the redesign of nurse practitioner clinical education.

Creativity and connections: the future of nursing education and practice: the Massachusetts Initiative.

Education and practice partnerships are key to effective academic program design and implementation in a time of decreasing supply and increasing demands on the nursing profession. An integrated education/practice competency model can positively impact patient safety, improve patient care, increase retention, and ensure a sufficient and competent nursing workforce, which is paramount to survival of the health care system. Through the contributions of nursing leaders from the broad spectrum of nursing and industry organizations within the state, the Massachusetts Nurse of the Future project developed a competency-based framework for the future design of nursing educational programs to meet current and future practice needs. The Massachusetts Nurse of the Future Nursing Core Competencies(©) expand on the Institute of Medicine's core competencies for all health care professionals and the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses competencies for quality and safety to define the expectations for all professional nurses of the future. The Massachusetts Nurse of the Future Nursing Core Competencies define the knowledge, attitude, and skills required as the minimal expectations for initial nursing practice following completion of a prelicensure professional nursing education program. These competencies are now being integrated into new models for seamless, coordinated nursing curriculum and transition into practice within the state and beyond.