Nursing schools nationwide are ushering in a new approach to preparing professional nurses with the move to competency-based education (CBE). With grant funding from the American Nurses Foundation’s Reimaging Nursing Initiative, AACN is working to accelerate this historic shift through its Competency-Based Education for Practice-Ready Nurse Graduates initiative. AACN is providing technical assistance to nursing schools from across the country that have been hard at work implementing today’s competency standards, the Essentials, and making the move to CBE.
In this video, Dr. Becky Davis from Creighton University discusses her university’s path to implementing the Essentials, and how good teamwork and communication has helped them streamline their work.
Implementing the Essentials and making the move to competency-based education isn’t just an opportunity to improve how nursing students learn—it’s an opportunity for faculty to learn new skills and methodologies as well. In this video, Drs. Andrea Beauvais and Karen Burrows from Fairfield University discuss their faculty’s excitement about exploring new pedagogy.
The 2021 Essentials provide nursing schools with a framework for education to graduate practice-ready nurses who are able to equitably address the health concerns of patients they will care for in their career. Watch this video by Adjunct Professor Keilah Jacques, MSW, to hear how students at Johns Hopkins University are learning about community-based practice and in-home care.
In this video, Dr. Carmen Ward-Sullivan from Samuel Merrit University discusses how her team has learned that good things take time, and that implementation of the Essentials isn’t something that can be done overnight.
In order for nursing schools to meet their practice partners’ needs, everyone should be on the same page in understanding the competencies outlined in the 2021 Essentials, as well as what a practice-ready graduate looks like. Watch this video to learn from Dr. Monica J. Hughes about how Texas State University is accomplishing this is by engaging with school nurses in their local school district.
As your school continues to make the move to competency-based education, remember that a gap analysis can help you uncover key concepts that your current curriculum may be missing. In this video, Drs. Rosemary Eustace, Ann Bowling, and Marlene Stuber from Wright State University discuss the important role gap analysis has played in their curriculum redesign process.
Though the work may at times be challenging, implementing the Essentials and making the move to competency-based education places your school at the forefront of nursing education. Watch this video from Dr. Marion Patti at the University of Southern Mississippi to learn why her team is excited about this new challenge.
When reevaluating your nursing school’s curriculum, remember that your peers at other schools across the nation may have a helpful perspective that can improve your own method of implementing the Essentials. In this video, Dr. Meagan Rogers from the University of Texas, Austin discusses how tools published by other universities have been helpful for her team.
Competency-based education has been proven to instill more confidence in students who learn under the methodology. In this video, Drs. Karen Tetz and Michaelynn Paul from Walla Walla University discuss how they’ve witnessed their students improve through CBE.