Expanding Nursing Education Capacity

Preparing for the National Nursing Education Summit

During these Spring 2008 months I have been active along with a Team of Advisors to prepare for an upcoming event that addresses the critical issue of expanding nursing education capacity. Nationwide, many college and university nursing programs do not have the physical space, faculty, clinical resources, or funds to enroll and educate the numbers of students needed to meet future nursing demands. In 2006, the National League for Nursing reported that as many as 88,000 qualified applicants to all (community colleges and university) nursing programs were turned away due to insufficient educational capacity.

 To address this challenge, state and regional stakeholders have been working together to develop creative strategies to help expand nursing education capacity in their states. In recognition of the importance of these efforts, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration; the AARP Center to Champion Nursing in America; and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, are hosting a National Nursing Education Summit June 26-27, 2008.

 The National Nursing Education Summit will provide a forum for state teams to share best practices, consult with experts, learn about innovative strategies, and develop and refine their own plans to effectively expand nursing education capacity.

The first day of the meeting will be devoted to an engaging discussion of four key aspects of increasing nursing education capacity: 1) Strategic Partnerships and Resource Alignment; 2) The Role of Policy and Regulation; 3) Increasing Faculty Capacity and Diversity; and 4) Education Redesign. On the second day, teams will gather individually to discuss what they learned and develop action plans. Of 44 state teams that applied to participate in the Summit, 18 teams have been invited to come. Teams will benefit from the experience of their peers and the perspectives of experts in the field.

 During this Summit, leaders from across the country will work with the State Teams to address the problem of increasing nursing education capacity in their own states. The Summit is a “call to action” to redesign the current system of nursing education to create more nurses who are better–equipped to deliver care in today’s rapidly changing health care system.