2005 NLN Education Summit Sells Out

Nursing Education: Navigating Toward New Horizons
Thursday, September 29 – Saturday, October 1, Baltimore, MD

September 20, 2005 – New York, NY
– Reflecting the increasing importance of nursing education in the face of the unprecedented nursing faculty shortage, the National League for Nursing’s annual conference and exhibition boasts its largest attendance ever in 2005. More than 1400 nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education will attend Nursing Education: Navigating Toward New Horizons.

Hands-on workshops, symposia, paper presentations, and poster exhibitions explore new pedagogies, flexible curriculum designs, clinical teaching models, best practices in teaching and learning, quality improvement processes, and the development of the science of nursing education. In addition, presentations will challenge conference attendees to think in innovative ways about teacher-student relationships, student recruitment and retention, creating environments that support faculty, integrating technology into educational processes, and evidence-based teaching practices.

The plenary session tackles a sensitive subject that needs attention. A panel of nurse educators will discuss Academic Dishonesty, Bullying, and Violence: Difficult Challenges Facing Nurse Educators. Dr. Lee Shulman, esteemed president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, will deliver the keynote address, Signature Pedagogies: Preparing Minds for Theory and Practice. The new group of NLN Centers of Excellence™ for 2005-2008 will be unveiled on Saturday morning, October 1 at -more- the annual business meeting which is also the venue for the inaugural address of incoming NLN president, Dr. Toni Bargagliotti.

The NLN’s annual awards ceremony on Saturday evening, October 1 will pay tribute to three outstanding contributors to the field of nursing education.

The NLN Award for Excellence in Teaching recognizes Diane Skiba. A professor at the University of Colorado, Dr. Skiba is most often cited as the person responsible for integrating computer technology into the nursing curriculum and for promoting the implementation of nursing informatics nationally. Her I-Collaborative Project: Partnerships in Learning is one of the most acclaimed advances in distance and web-based learning for the nursing community.

Christine A. Tanner will receive the NLN Award for Excellence in Nursing Education Research. Editor of the Journal of Nursing Education and professor at Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing, Dr. Tanner developed a state-wide, performance-based model of nursing education that provides baccalaureate education on local community college campuses and changed the face of nursing education in the state of Oregon.

The NLN Award for Public Service goes to Independence Blue Cross of Pennsylvania. Through its Nurse Scholars Program and other collaborative programs such as the Nursing Internship Program and the Charitable Medical Care grants program, IBC has become a community role model for health care plans nationwide. It has dedicated more than $4 million to 22 clinics over a three-year period, providing financial support to non-profit, privately funded clinics in southeastern Pennsylvania who provide free or low-cost care to the area’s uninsured. And by distributing $1.74 million in scholarship funding to graduate students pursuing careers in nursing education, it became the first health plan to support graduate nursing education. The NLN Education Summit will take place at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel.

Editors and reporters: For interview opportunities, if you would like to receive a complete Summit schedule, a program book including all abstracts, or if you would like to attend, please contact NLN communications director Karen R. Klestzick at 212-812-0376, kklestzick@nln.org.

The NLN advances quality nursing education that prepares the nursing workforce to meet the needs of diverse populations in an ever-changing health care environment.