NLN to Unveil Three New Titles at Annual Education Summit

Clinical Education in Prelicensure Nursing Programs:
Results from an NLN National Survey, 2009

Outcomes and Competencies for Graduates of Practical/Vocational,
Diploma, Associate Degree, Baccalaureate, Masters,
Practice Doctorate, and Research Doctorate Programs in Nursing

Available in October Through Web-Based NLN Marketplace

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY — September 14, 2010 — The National League for Nursing will publish three monographs that report on significant research undertaken to evaluate the different classroom and clinical content and practices that prepare graduates of nursing programs across the academic spectrum for entry to practice. "These publications," said NLN CEO Dr. Beverly Malone, "reflect the NLNs commitment to excellence and our efforts to strengthen the science of nursing education."

The books will be featured at the 2010 Education Summit, September 29 - October 2 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, where editors and contributors will be on hand to autograph copies.

"We are again pleased to offer our community of nurse educators the latest published research from thought leaders in the profession, which we believe will aid in the continuing quest to enhance standards of excellence in teaching methodology and content," said NLN president Cathleen Shultz, PhD, RN, CNE, FAAN. "These volumes will undoubtedly be referenced often, as they quickly become essential additions to every nurse educators library."

• Best Practices in Teaching and Learning in Nursing Education, by Linda Felver, PhD, RN, et. al. A summary of available evidence related to best practices in teaching and learning, this compendium by 11 members of the faculty at Oregon Health and Science University School of Nursing is intended to guide and engage faculty, provide a platform for faculty development, and offer guidance for strategic planning and resource allocation. To support these purposes, the authors outline key aspects of research on how people learn and evidence on best practices in teaching and learning in higher education. The focus then narrows to evidence on aspects of teaching and learning in nursing education that are pertinent to nursing curricula at all levels. Subsequent discussion of evidence regarding selected pedagogical strategies reveals that many different strategies can be effective. The authors conclude by discussing faculty development and evaluation in the context of promoting best practices in teaching and learning.
• Clinical Education in Prelicensure Nursing Programs: Results from an NLN National Survey, 2009 by Pamela Ironside, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF, and Angela McNelis, PhD, RN, both associate professors at Indiana University School of Nursing in Indianapolis; Dr. Ironside is also director there of the Center for Nursing Education Research. Dr. McNelis heads up the schools Office of Undergraduate Special Programs. Clinical experiences are a critical part of prelicensure nursing education and are widely considered to be vital to the preparation of a competent nurse workforce, ready and able to provide safe, quality care. However, lack of quality sites, lack of faculty qualified to teach on-site, and restrictions of the number of students or other limitations imposed by clinical agencies align to create barriers to effective clinical education in pre-licensure nursing programs. That is a key finding of the NLNs survey on clinical education of 2,386 nurse educators, representing all types of RN nursing programs in all 50 United States. Results reflect the views of many leading nurse educators, who contend that advancements in clinical education are essential to easing the nationwide nursing shortage.
• Outcomes and Competencies for Graduates of Practical/Vocational, Diploma, Associate Degree, Baccalaureate, Masters. Practice Doctorate, and Research Doctorate Programs in Nursing, a long-awaited, first-of-its-kind report by the NLN Education Competency Work Group,* which collaborated over a two-year period to evaluate how best to prepare graduates of nursing programs across the academic spectrum to function in an evolving, dynamic health care environment. Their review was undertaken as a response to calls for major revisions in the education of health care professionals, calls that were themselves a response to changes and challenges in Americas health care landscape. Meeting this challenge required that nurse educators examine program outcomes and competencies across all types of programs — rather than looking at each program type in isolation from others, as has been the case. Such a wide-ranging, inclusive approach serves to clarify concepts (e.g., evidence-based practice) that cut across all program types while clarifying the unique focus of each program type in relation to each concept. The group from education and practice, therefore, reviewed existing literature, work previously completed by NLN advisory councils and task groups, and emerging national concerns and initiatives to formulate outcomes and competencies. They vetted these with the nursing education community and finalized a set of outcomes and competencies that address all program types. The result is a comprehensive document that is both contemporary and futuristic and fills a gap in the existing body of scholarly research.

*Members of the Competency Work Group: June Larson, MS, RN, CNE, ANEF (chair), University of South Dakota; Carol Coose, EdD, RN, CNE, College of Western Idaho; Kynna Wright, PhD, RN, MPH, CPNP, UCLA; Marilyn Brady, PhD, RN, Trident Technical College; Lynn Engelmann, EdD, RN, ANEF, College of DuPage; Karen Pardue, MS, RN, CNE, ANEF, University of New England; Brother Ignatius Perkins, OP, PhD, RN, FAAN, FNYAM, Aquinas College; Mary Schoessler, EdD, RN-BC, Providence Portland Medical Center; Gwen Sherwood, PhD, RN, FAAN, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Cathleen Shultz, PhD, RN, CNE, FAAN, Harding University; Terry Valiga, EdD, RN, FAAN, Duke University.

Reporters/Editors: For review copies and to arrange interviews with editors and contributors, please contact Karen R. Klestzick, NLN chief communications officer, at 212-812-0376 or kklestzick@nln.org.

Dedicated to excellence in nursing education, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education offering faculty development, networking opportunities, testing and assessment, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its 32,000 individual and 1,200 institutional members.