Nursing education
Introduction
The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice provides the educational framework for the preparation of professional nurses. This document describes the outcomes expected of graduates of baccalaureate nursing programs.
The Essentials apply to all prelicensure and RN complet ion programs, whether the degree is baccalaureate or graduate entry. Program curricula are designed to prepare students to meet the endofprogram outcomes delineated under each Essent ial.
Background
The healthcare delivery system has changed dramatically since The Essentials of
Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice was endorsed by the
American Associat ion of Colleges of Nursing (AACN, 1998). Building a safer healt hcare system has become t he focus of all health professions following numerous reports from the Institute of Medicine (IOM, 2000, 2001, 2004), American Hospital
Associat ion (2002), Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Kimball & O’Neill, 2002), the
Joint Commission (2002) and other authorit ies. Nursing has been identified as having the potential for making the biggest impact on a transformation of healthcare delivery to a safer, higher qualit y, and more costeffect ive system. Wit h the increasing awareness of the need for change in the healthcare system, the clinical microsystems (small, funct ional units where care is provided within the larger system) have become an important focus for improving healt hcare outcomes (Nelson, Batalden, & Godfrey, 2007).
In addit ion to the concern over healt hcare outcomes, the United St ates and the global market are experiencing a nursing shortage that is expected to intensify as the demand for more and different nursing services grows. Buerhaus, Staiger, and Auerbach (2008) reported that the U.S. may experience a shortage of more than 500,000 registered nurses by the
The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice provides the educational framework for the preparation of professional nurses. This document describes the outcomes expected of graduates of baccalaureate nursing programs.
The Essentials apply to all prelicensure and RN complet ion programs, whether the degree is baccalaureate or graduate entry. Program curricula are designed to prepare students to meet the endofprogram outcomes delineated under each Essent ial.
Background
The healthcare delivery system has changed dramatically since The Essentials of
Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice was endorsed by the
American Associat ion of Colleges of Nursing (AACN, 1998). Building a safer healt hcare system has become t he focus of all health professions following numerous reports from the Institute of Medicine (IOM, 2000, 2001, 2004), American Hospital
Associat ion (2002), Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Kimball & O’Neill, 2002), the
Joint Commission (2002) and other authorit ies. Nursing has been identified as having the potential for making the biggest impact on a transformation of healthcare delivery to a safer, higher qualit y, and more costeffect ive system. Wit h the increasing awareness of the need for change in the healthcare system, the clinical microsystems (small, funct ional units where care is provided within the larger system) have become an important focus for improving healt hcare outcomes (Nelson, Batalden, & Godfrey, 2007).
In addit ion to the concern over healt hcare outcomes, the United St ates and the global market are experiencing a nursing shortage that is expected to intensify as the demand for more and different nursing services grows. Buerhaus, Staiger, and Auerbach (2008) reported that the U.S. may experience a shortage of more than 500,000 registered nurses by the