Other Specialty Areas

Clinical Nurse Leader

• CNL Competencies and Curricular Expectations for Education and Practice (2013)

Environmental Health 

• National Environmental Education & Training Foundation Position Statement on Health Professionals and Environmental Health Education 

Mass Casualty

• Incidents Educational Competencies for Registered Nurses Responding to Mass Casualty Incidents

Obesity

• Competencies for the Prevention and Management of Obesity, June 2017
  These competencies support the development and refinement of faculty development programs for the teaching and assessment of obesity care. This work is the product of a consensus process involving educators from over 20 organizations and societies representing a dozen health professions, including AACN. The competencies were developed for those professionals actively engaged in the prevention and management of obesity.

Oral Health

• Oral Health: An Essential Component of Primary Care 
   
• Interprofessional Oral Health Faculty Tool Kit for Primary Care Nurse Practitioner and Midwifery Programs 

Palliative Care 

• CARES: Competencies And Recommendations for Educating Undergraduate Nursing Students Preparing Nurses to Care for the Seriously Ill and their Families

Psychiatric Mental Health 

• Defining and Using Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing Skills in Undergraduate Nursing Education

Public Health/Population Health 

• Clinical Prevention and Population Health Curriculum Framework
   
• Population Health Supplement to Baccalaureate Essentials
   
• Curriculum Best Practices for Population Health

Substance Abuse 

• Substance Use Education for Nurses: Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT)
   
• The Healthcare Professional’s Core Resource on Alcohol (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)

Women's Health 

• Women's Health Curricula: Final Report on Expert Panel Recommendations for Interprofessional Collaboration across the Health Professions

Interprofessional Competencies

• IPEC Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice: Version 3 (2023) 
   
• 2021-2023 IPEC Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Revision
   
• IPEC Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice: 2016 Update
   
• IPEC Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice: 2011 Original
   
• Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Competencies 
   
• Team-Based Competencies, Building a Shared Foundation for Education and Clinical Practice
   
• Clinical Prevention and Population Health Curriculum Framework
   
• Interprofessional Oral Health Faculty Tool Kit for Primary Care Nurse Practitioner and Midwifery Programs
   
• Advancing Interprofessional Clinical Prevention and Population Health Education 
   
• IPE Interprofessional PORTAL
   
• Guidance on Developing Quality Interprofessional Education for the Health Professions

Gerontology

Baccalaureate Competencies 

• Recommended Baccalaureate Competencies and Curricular Guidelines for the Nursing Care of Older Adults (2010)
  AACN and the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing at New York University College of Nursing worked collaboratively with an expert panel to develop these competencies and curricular guidelines to serve as a supplement to the 2008 AACN Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice. The purpose of this document is to assist nurse educators in incorporating geriatric-focused nursing content and learning opportunities into the baccalaureate nursing curriculum, including both the didactic and clinical experiences to ensure that nursing students are able to provide the necessary geriatric care for the nation’s aging population.  This project was generously funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation.

Advanced Practice Competencies 

• Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Competencies (2016)                     
  • View 2010 Version
    ​This 2010 publication delineates the entry-level competencies for graduates of master’s, doctorate of nursing practice (DNP), and post-graduate programs preparing primary care NPs who serve the adult-gerontology population. The competencies are intended to be used in conjunction with — and build upon — the graduate and APRN core competencies outlined in the AACN (2006) Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice or the AACN (1996) Essentials of Master’s Education for Advanced Practice Nursing. In addition, these competencies build upon the NONPF (2006) core competencies for all nurse practitioners. These consensus-based competencies focus on the unique practice knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the adult-gerontology primary care NP.
     
• Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Competencies (2012) 
  This 2012 publication delineates the entry-level competencies for graduates of master’s, doctorate of nursing practice (DNP), and post-graduate programs preparing acute care NPs who serve the adult-gerontology population. The competencies are intended to be used in conjunction with — and build upon — the graduate and APRN core competencies outlined in the AACN (2006) Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice or the AACN (1996) Essentials of Master’s Education for Advanced Practice Nursing. In addition, these competencies build upon the NONPF (2006) core competencies for all nurse practitioners. These consensus-based competencies focus on the unique practice knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the adult-gerontology acute care NP.  Significant overlap in the acute care and primary care NP competencies does exist; however, the practice of the acute care and primary care adult-gerontology NP differs. The scope of practice of either the acute care or primary care NP is not setting specific but rather is based on patient care needs. The focus of the adult-gerontology acute care NP is to provide patient-centered, quality care across the entire adult-older adult age spectrum.
   
• Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist Competencies (2010)
  This 2010 publication delineates entry-level competencies for all graduates of master’s, doctorate of nursing practice (DNP), and post-graduate programs preparing adult-gerontology clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) for certification and licensure. The competencies are intended to be used in conjunction with and build upon the graduate and APRN core competencies outlined in the AACN (2006) Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice or the AACN (1996) Essentials of Master’s Education for Advanced Practice Nursing. In addition, these competencies build upon the National CNS Core Competencies (2008) for all clinical nurse specialists. These competencies focus on the unique practice knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the adult-gerontology CNS.
   
• Recommended Competencies for Older Adult Care for the Family CNP and Women’s Health CNP (2010)
   
• Recommended Competencies for Older Adult Care for CNSs Prepared for Women’s Health/Gender Specific and Across the Lifespan Populations (2010)
  This 2010 publication describes the recommended competencies of new graduates of graduate-degree and post-graduate certificate programs preparing clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) prepared to care for those populations that provide care to older adults but are not adult-gerontology CNSs. Specifically, these populations include across the lifespan, and the women’s health or gender-related CNS as defined in the Consensus Model for APRN Regulation: Licensure, Accreditation, Certification and Education Group, 2008). This set of recommended competencies is not intended to alter or replace competencies developed for these CNS populations. Rather the competencies described in this document complement and are intended to augment the national CNS core (National CNS Competency Task Force, 2008) and population-focused competencies. The competencies delineated in this document are intended to highlight those areas of competence and evidence-based knowledge that CNSs providing care to older adults should have in order to improve health outcomes, quality of life, and level of functioning of the growing population of older adults.

Other

• Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) in Healthcare for Older Adults (2014)

Cultural Competencies

• Cultural Competency in Baccalaureate Nursing Education 
  This document provides a framework to facilitate the attainment of cultural competence by baccalaureate nursing graduates. Consistent with The Essentials of Baccalaureate Nursing Education for Professional Nursing Practice, these competencies apply to practice in a variety of healthcare settings, patients across the wellness-illness continuum, and patients across the lifespan, in collaboration with the interprofessional team. 
   
• Tool Kit for Culturally Competent Baccalaureate Nursing Education 
  This tool kit provides resources and exemplars and to facilitate implementation of cultural competencies in baccalaureate nursing education. The tool kit identifies significant content, teaching-learning activities, and resources that will help faculty integrate cultural competency in nursing curriculum. 
   
• Cultural Competencies for Graduate Nursing Students 
  Developed specifically for master’s and doctoral nursing graduates, this set of cultural competencies apply to clinical practice, education, and research in a variety of healthcare settings, with patients across the wellness-illness continuum and lifespan, and in collaboration with the interprofessional team. 
   
• Cultural Competency Toolkit for Graduate Nursing Students 
  This toolkit provides resources and exemplars to facilitate implementation of cultural competencies in graduate nursing education. The toolkit provides nursing models, reference lists, case studies, websites, etc. that can be used to enhance teaching-learning activities. The toolkit is to be used to assist both faculty members and graduate nursing students in integrating cultural competency in practice, education, and research.

Distance Education

The growth of distance education courses and programs for the delivery of nursing education has increased and is expected to continue to increase. Recognizing this growth and the need to ensure the public that nursing education programs maintain a high standard of quality, the Alliance for Nursing Accreditation endorses the following standard: 

All nursing education programs delivered solely or in part through distance learning technologies must meet the same academic program and learning support standards and accreditation criteria as programs provided in face-to-face formats, including the following: 

• Student outcomes are consistent with the stated mission, goals, and objectives of the program; and 
   
• The institution assumes the responsibility for establishing a means to assess student outcomes. This assessment includes overall program outcomes, in addition to specific course outcomes, and a process for using the results for continuous program improvement. 
   
• Mechanisms for ongoing faculty development and involvement in the area of distance education and the use of technology in teaching-learning processes are established. Appropriate technical support for faculty and students is provided. 
   
• When utilizing distance learning methods, a program provides learning opportunities that facilitate development of students' clinical competence and professional role socialization and establishes mechanisms to measure these student outcomes. 
   
• When utilizing distance learning methods, a program provides or makes available resources for the students' successful attainment of all program objectives. 
   
• Each accreditation and program review entity incorporates the review of distance-education programs as a component of site visitor/evaluator training. 

This statement on Distance Education Policies has been endorsed by the following organizations: 

• American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program
• American Association of Colleges of Nursing
• American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
• American Association of Critical Care Nurses Certification Corporation
• American College of Nurse-Midwives Division of Accreditation
• American Nurses Credentialing Center Association of Faculties of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
• Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education
• Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs
• National Certification Corporation
• National Council of State Boards of Nursing
• National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties
• National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health, Council on Accreditation
• National Certification Board of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners & Nurses 

Genomics

Translation and Integration of Genomics is Essential to Doctoral NuRsing

Genetics/Genomics Competency Center (G2C2)

Essential Genetic and Genomic Competencies for Nurses With Graduate Degrees

Essential Nursing Competencies and Curricular Guidelines for Genetics and Genomics 

Disability Health Care

Core Competencies on Disability for Health Care Education (2019)
Alliance for Disability in Health Care Education

AACN Tool Kit for Accommodating Students with Disabilities