As the collective voice for academic nursing, AACN serves as the catalyst for excellence and innovation in nursing education, research, and practice.
Explore our current initiatives below.
The AACN Essentials outline the necessary curriculum content and expected competencies of graduates from baccalaureate, master’s, and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs.
With its home base at AACN, Jonas Nursing sponsors the Jonas Scholars program, providing support and networking to doctoral students seeking faculty careers.
AACN is a primary advocate for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusivity within academic nursing.
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AACN actively promotes best practices and exemplars related to faculty and student wellness in our programming and through strategic collaborations.
Since 2013, AACN has received over $20 million in grant funding that support our initiatives and help drive leadership, innovation, and excellence in academic nursing.
Nursing’s Centralized Application Service for Nursing provides accredited nursing schools with a free, robust admissions platform to streamline the application review process.
Discover how nursing education elevates patient outcomes and why BSN-educated nurses play a pivotal role in ensuring healthcare quality. This document is a must-read for healthcare advocates and stakeholders, shedding light on the vital role of baccalaureate-prepared nurses.
Explore AACN's Leading Across Multidimensional Perspectives (LAMP℠) Culture and Climate Survey, designed to assess the experiences of diverse students, faculty, and staff at nursing schools and identify practices that facilitate student success and a sense of belonging. This survey tool provides actionable insights for administrators, enhancing understanding of the learning environment's impact on student success and driving meaningful institution-level change.
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The association has worked collaboratively to develop resources for nursing leaders looking to develop and sustain effective academic-practice partnerships, a top priority for AACN.
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The CNL® is a master’s educated nurse, prepared for practice across the continuum of care within any healthcare setting. The CNL was developed by AACN in collaboration with leaders from healthcare practice and education to address the critical need to improve the quality of patient care outcomes.
Resources that support enhanced teaching of concepts of population health and provide practical, hands-on experience at the community level for nursing students.
AACN LEADS programs support faculty and administrators at various career stages, offering a wide range of learning opportunities tailored for new, early-career, and experienced deans, associate deans, program directors, and faculty members.
Vizient and AACN connects members with opportunities to learn, improve, and grow. The Vizient/AACN Nurse Residency Program™ (NRP) focuses on new entry-level nurses as they transition into practice.
ELNEC is a national and international education initiative to improve palliative care. The project, administered by City of Hope, provides training in palliative care so they can teach this essential information to nursing students, practicing nurses and other healthcare professionals.
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs prepare nurse leaders at the highest level of nursing practice to improve patient outcomes and translate research into practice.
AACN's education resources, curriculum guidelines, and tool kits provide a framework for positioning baccalaureate and graduate-degree nursing programs to meet the healthcare challenges of a new century. Nursing deans and faculty nationwide have used the following resources produced by AACN to prepare practice-ready nurses.