Rounds with Leadership: Recognizing Excellence in Academic Nursing

In keeping with our mission, AACN is committed to advancing innovation in nursing education, research, and practice. We believe that recognizing excellence is an essential component of this work. By celebrating the groundbreaking efforts underway at schools of nursing, we strive to identify exemplars that inspire faculty, students, and colleagues to generate new ideas, take smart risks, and lead.

To achieve this goal, AACN maintains more than a dozen national awards programs designed to honor individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievements in support of the nursing profession. Many of these programs seek nominations from member schools, offering opportunities to showcase exceptional faculty, students, and nursing programs for their pioneering work.

AACN is currently seeking nominations for faculty in three categories:

• Novice Faculty Teaching Awards for outstanding early-career nurse educators with less than 5 years of experience. Awards are available for didactic and clinical faculty.
• Excellence and Innovation in Teaching Award for exceptional educators who have been teaching for 5 years or more.
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Excellence Award for faculty who systematically investigate questions related to student learning and assessment.

At the institutional level, AACN recognizes member schools through:

• Innovations in Professional Nursing Education Awards for programs working to re-envision traditional education models and lead programmatic change. Awards are presented in four like-school categories.
• Exemplary Academic-Practice Partnership Awards that spotlight member institutions involved in highly productive and model collaborations.
• Inclusive Excellence, Belonging, and Sustainability in Nursing Education Award for schools that champion learning environments committed to access and success for all students.

AACN is also looking to showcase excellence in PhD dissertations and DNP projects completed by students in research- and practice-focused doctoral programs. Many graduate students are advancing trailblazing research and practice innovations that are worthy of national recognition and dissemination.

Please take a moment to explore the many opportunities AACN offers to recognize award-worthy individuals and schools of nursing.  We look forward to honoring selected nominees at an upcoming AACN conference, where their accomplishments will be celebrated among a community of peers. AACN showcases all awardees on our website to help inform legislators, the media, prospective students, and interprofessional colleagues about where forward-leaning ideas and initiatives are incubating in academic nursing.