Nine Schools of Nursing and One Health Care Organization Named National League for Nursing Centers of Excellence for 2013-17

Formal Recognition Set for Friday, September 20 at 2013 Education Summit in Washington, DC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY — July 18, 2013 — Nine schools of nursing, including three that have earned continuing designation in their respective categories of excellence, have been named NLN Centers of Excellence (COE) by the Board of Governors of the National League for Nursing, the league has announced. One health care organization, Norton Healthcare of Louisville, Kentucky, this year joins the ranks of COEs in a category the NLN created in 2012 to spotlight the critical role practice environments play in advancing excellence in nursing education. The selection is by competitive application reviewed by a panel of leaders in nursing education.

As in previous years, COEs will be formally recognized at the NLNs Annual Education Summit during the NLN Banquet. Deans and other top administrators, faculty, and health care executives will be gathered for the conference in Washington, DC from September 18-21; the ceremony, on Friday evening, September 20, follows the Presidents Reception.

In highlights from this selection cycle, two schools, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Saint Xavier in Chicago, received continuing designations for "Creating Environments that Enhance Student Learning and Professional Development" - Saint Xavier for the third time, Johns Hopkins for the second. Villanova University, in Philadelphia, was for the second consecutive year designated a COE for "Creating Environments that Advance the Science of Nursing Education." Previously, Villanova received two consecutive designations in the category "Creating Environments that Promote Student Learning and Professional Development."

"We are proud to offer this elite status to deserving nursing education programs and organizations that model excellence in their teaching/learning strategies and implementation; initiatives that nurture professional development; rigorous scholarship; and promotion of academic progression for life-long learning," asserted NLN president Judith Halstead, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF. "Their visionary leadership sets the standard for nursing education to build a strong and diverse nursing workforce to advance the nations health, guided by the core values of caring, integrity, diversity, and excellence."

Initial and second COE designations are granted for a four-year period; a five-year term accompanies a third COE designation. Throughout the four or more years that institutions carry the COE designation, all serve as advisers and sounding boards to others that seek COE status. "The NLN considers COEs to be standard bearers of excellence, role models whose faculty, deans, and staff are available to share expertise, insight, knowledge, and experience to lift the entire nursing community to a higher level of achievement," noted Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN, CEO of the NLN. "I look forward to acknowledging their impressive achievements at the Summit in September."

Also, each year, students enrolled in COE schools have an opportunity to share their thoughts on the meaning of excellence in nursing education, what fosters excellence, and what it means to them to be part of a COE-designated nursing program. As in years past, the winner of the Student Excellence Paper Competition will be acknowledged at the COE presentation. She is Mary-Claire Rocha from Villanova University.

Since 2004, the NLN has issued an annual invitation to nursing schools to apply for COE status. Applicants are then judged on their ability to demonstrate in concrete, measurable terms sustained excellence in faculty development, nursing education research, or student learning and professional development. Schools, and now with the new category, health care organizations, must also have a proven commitment to continuous quality improvement. There are now a total of 29 NLN COEs, 25 schools of nursing that represent the spectrum of higher education, and four health care organizations.

Please see below for the complete list, by category, of 2013-17 COEs. For more information about the COE program, please visit www.nln.org/recognitionprograms/coe/index.htm.

Editors and reporters: For interview opportunities, please contact NLN chief communications officer Karen R. Klestzick at 212-812-0376 or kklestzick@nln.org.

Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education. The NLN offers professional development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its 37,000 individual and 1,200 institutional members. NLN members represent nursing education programs across the spectrum of higher education and health care organizations and agencies.

Creating Environments that Enhance Student Learning and Professional Development

Ball State University (Muncie, IN)
Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD) ...continuing designation
Northeastern University (Boston, MA)
Saint Xavier (Chicago, IL) ...continuing designation
University of Kansas (Kansas City, KS)

Duke University (Durham, NC)

Kent State University (Kent, Ohio)
Villanova University (Philadelphia, PA) ...continuing designation
Widener University (Chester, PA)

Norton Healthcare (Louisville, KY)