AACN

BACKGROUND: Competency-based education among baccalaureate nursing students is emerging based on American Association of Colleges of Nursing Essentials. With the impact of COVID-19 on nursing education and AACN recommendations, changes were required to provide alternative modes of delivery and means of assessment. PURPOSE: Virtual poverty simulation data is limited. The use of virtual poverty simulation will ensure students' mastery of core competencies while offering versatility in an online environment...

BACKGROUND: Graduate nursing education students are required to complete essential core content (such as education theory, accreditation, evidence-based teaching strategies, and evaluation methods) to prepare them to transition into independent practice. The 2021-2022 academic year required a monumental change in the existing curriculum to incorporate the 2021 American Association of Colleges of Nursing Essentials and the Next Gen National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) content...

American institutions of nursing education have integrated cultural competence as a pillar approach to addressing health disparities. The theoretical frameworks, priorities, and solutions that national organizations pursue and endorse have far-reaching implications. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is one such organization. The purpose of this project was to critically analyze the AACN's Tool Kit of Resources for Cultural Competent Education for Baccalaureate Nurses to excavate dynamics related to language, power, and inequality...

BACKGROUND: In the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's updated Essentials, competency-based education (CBE) is the expected standard for nursing curricula. CBE approaches include observation, practice repetition, demonstration, and video supervision guided by a framework of competency, feedback, and self-reflection. METHOD: The promotion of skills competency among nursing students was facilitated by self-regulated learning using video skills-based competency testing...

This article explores approaches to strengthening research education in nursing doctoral (PhD) programs with a focus on the roles of interdisciplinary faculty and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), 2022-2026 Strategic Plan. Our view is that these components are interrelated and essential in educating the next generation of nurse researchers. To explore these topics, we undertook two analyses: (1) an examination of the preparation of PhD directors across the 119 AACN member schools; and (2) an evaluation of NIH funding levels to schools of nursing and the principal investigators' backgrounds among NINR grantees...

An important publication titled The State of Doctor of Nursing Practice Education in 2022 reports on a national study that examined the current state of DNP graduates both in practice and in academia. The key findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the 2022 report provide an updated snapshot of current DNP education and practice along with recommendations for curricula and utilization of DNP graduates. This article focuses on the DNP Project as an integral component of the DNP curriculum in developing clinical leaders and scholars to improve healthcare outcomes and significantly impact healthcare transformation...

Digital health is health care delivery that connects and empowers people and populations to manage health and wellness through technology. This mode of health care delivery has increased exponentially since the COVID-19 pandemic with most hospitals and health systems offering digital health services. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) published The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education which digital health education helps to partially meet four of these competencies...

BACKGROUND: Human health and the health of the planet are inextricably interconnected. The human impact on the environment and likewise the impact of the environment on human health is well documented across various areas of study. Climate change, air and water pollutants, land usage, vector borne illness, and other examples demonstrate this relationship. Nurse educators would be negligent if this knowledge was not integrated and aligned with AACN Essentials competencies to demonstrate acquisition of knowledge...

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (2021) include a Population Health domain. Future nurses well-versed in the social determinants of health are poised to be leaders, creating change to improve the lives of vulnerable populations. The Population Health Project (PHP) is an innovative learning experience, immersing student nurses in authentic interactions that impact the communities they partner with. Baccalaureate nursing students, during their Population Health course, work in groups to produce innovative, community-focused PHPs, successfully incorporating the AACN competencies...

The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (2021) published by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing encourages bridging the gap between education and practice and continues to support the importance of providing clinical educational experiences in diverse settings. Another AACN document, Defining Scholarship for Academic Nursing Task Force Consensus Position Statement (2018), strongly encourages nursing faculty to engage in scholarship, a tradition that is integral to academic positions...

PURPOSE: Education for nurse practitioners (NPs) requires knowledge and skill acquisition for managing transitions in care, especially among older adults with complex care needs. A team of nurse researchers and educators provided a competency-based approach for educating future NPs on the care delivery of older adults using the Transitional Care Model's (TCM) evidence-based interventions. METHODS: NP faculty integrated an online course offering didactic teaching that would enhance clinical learning...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Measuring hemodynamic parameters has become safer and more precise than in the past. Accurately monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of fluid, inotrope, and vasoactive medication administration can improve patient outcomes. Arbitrary fluid administration without stroke volume measurement can be detrimental to patient outcomes. Early detection and prompt treatment of shock states is essential to combat deleterious effects on critically ill patients. In addition to measuring traditional hemodynamic variables, the use of advanced variables such as hypotension prediction index, dynamic arterial elastance, and systolic slope can improve the precision of treat ment for critically ill patients...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

As the process of providing health care becomes increasingly complex and the foundation of the nursing profession changes, nursing leaders will need to think differently about how to support their colleagues more efficiently and effectively. The role of the virtual nurse is expanding as part of the effort to address these complexities and develop innovative solutions. Although more work is necessary to define best practices in the variations of virtual nursing, current examples have had a positive impact on nursing and patient care...

Fever-an elevated body temperature-is a prominent feature of a wide range of disease conditions and is a common finding in intensive care, affecting up to 70% of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). The causes of fever in the ICU are multifactorial, and it can be due to a number of infective and noninfective etiologies. The production of fever represents a complex physiological, adaptive host response that is beneficial for host defense and survival but can be maladaptive and harmful if left unabated...

For decades, tele-critical care (TCC) programs have provided expert population surveillance with standardized clinical interventions for critically ill patients. The COVID-19 pandemic created massive strains on critical care resources. For this report, standard questions were used to solicit COVID-19 pandemic workflow and service modifications from a network of TCC leaders to describe the rapid expansion of TCC-supported services during the pandemic. In this article, leaders from 7 TCC programs report on the effective use of services to support changing hospital needs during the pandemic in areas such as clinical education, personal protective equipment stewardship, expansion of virtual care, and creative staffing models, among others...

A pediatric tele-critical care nursing program provides an extra layer of surveillance for patients and alerts bedside nurses of abnormal trends to mitigate adverse events. Although workforce turnover combined with patient complexity and acuity in a pediatric cardiac intensive care unit strains the sustainability of a healthy work environment, these variables have also opened the door to an innovative approach to tele-critical care nursing care delivery. In addition to virtual surveillance, a clinical bedside intervention was developed to provide hands-on assistance to bedside nurses...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated staffing challenges in intensive care units, with increased burnout and moral distress cited as major problems. A healthy work environment is critical to nurses' success and wellbeing. During the pandemic, a survey by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses revealed decreased composite scores in each of the 6 critical elements of a healthy work environment. Hospital units that improved even 1 critical element reported higher job satisfaction. The use of telehealth tools by expert nurses expanded care delivery during the pandemic by improving response to acutely and critically ill patients while supporting hospital-based nurses...