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Excellence Initiatives
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Centers of Excellence in Nursing EducationTM
2006 Designees
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| Three outstanding schools of nursing were recognized as NLN Centers
of Excellence in Nursing Education during the annual Business Meeting
at the NLN's Education Summit, on September 30, 2006 in New York City.
The University of Oklahoma College of Nursing was recognized for its
sustained efforts to create environments that promote student learning
and professional development. The Indiana University School of Nursing
was acknowledged for its continuous efforts to promote the pedagogical
expertise of faculty. And for the first time, Center of Excellence
designation was awarded to a school for sustained efforts to advance
the science of nursing education. The recipient in this category was
the Blessing-Rieman College of Nursing. NLN president Toni Bargagliotti
and NLN CEO Ruth Corcoran presented each school with a framed certificate,
and all full-time faculty at each school received a Center of Excellence
School pin. |
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Student Category
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The University of Oklahoma College of Nursing builds its teaching/learning
environment on what faculty refer to as "the four Cs": caring, critical
thinking, communication, and citizenship. These elements are evident
in both the baccalaureate and master's programs, as faculty provide
flexibility and choice in order to empower the more than 1,000 nursing
students to individualize their learning, develop creativity, and
assume responsibility for providing leadership in nursing and health
care. Students at the University of Oklahoma College of Nursing are
actively engaged in the community through extensive and innovative
service-based learning activities. As a leader in online distance
education, the school brings together a diverse group of learners
through its outreach to students both in and out of state. This student
diversity, the community outreach efforts, and the strong partnerships
with a wide range of community agencies are effective in developing
what the College of Nursing refers to as "the next generation of health
care leaders." The expressed vision of the University of Oklahoma
College of Nursing is excellence in nursing; its tagline is "Sooner
Nursing: Integrity, Compassion, Excellence." It is evident that
the faculty live these concepts as they and students engage as active
partners in the academic enterprise. This is a primary reason why
the University of Oklahoma College of Nursing has been named an NLN
Center of Excellence in Nursing Education. |
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| There is no question that the Indiana University School of Nursing
is most deserving of recognition as a Center of Excellence for its
sustained efforts related to advancing the pedagogical expertise of
faculty. The more than 100 full-time faculty are nationally and internationally
recognized for their expertise in developing creative, interactive
pedagogies that promote excellence in nursing education, including
web-based learning, problem-based learning, narrative pedagogy, and
use of simulation technology. Recognizing that nurse educators must
be involved in life-long learning and development, the IU School of
Nursing faculty have created a series of online nurse educator courses
designed to improve educator competencies. Faculty at the school benefit
from these courses, as does a global audience of nurse educators.
In addition, there is widespread mentoring among faculty, extensive
support for participation in conferences and workshops related to
teaching and learning, and dialogue with experts who are brought to
campus to discuss innovations in teaching and new directions for nursing
education. The faculty are actively engaged in creating a preferred
future for nursing education, and many are recognized as leaders in
the field. As the result of a clear plan for ongoing faculty development,
the Indiana University School of Nursing has developed an empowering,
collaborative, and creative learning environment for both students
and faculty. And despite this being a major research institution,
there is enormous support for the scholarship of teaching and recognition
of teaching excellence as a means by which faculty can achieve promotion
and tenure. Most recently, the School of Nursing implemented the Center
for Excellence in Nursing Education research to facilitate the development
of evidence-based teaching practices and the pedagogical research
skills of faculty. The Indiana University School of Nursing is seen
as a model for excellence related to promoting the pedagogical expertise
of faculty, and the National League for Nursing is honored to name
it a Center of Excellence. |
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| Science of Nursing Education Category
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Blessing-Rieman is a small school that offers a baccalaureate program.
It enrolls approximately 300 nursing students who are taught by 14
full-time faculty. And it is not a research institution. Yet these
14 faculty have created an environment where teaching, evaluation,
and other educational practices are evidence-based and where all faculty
are contributing to the advancement of the science of nursing education.
For more than five years, the faculty have participated in a national
research study using narrative pedagogy. As a result of this participation,
they have changed the way they teach, the way they relate to and interact
with students, the structures and processes that are in place for
"getting the work done," and the value they place on evidence-based
teaching practices. Faculty and students interact in an environment
where the following collective values are evident: professional and
scholarly development, safe risk-taking, experimentation, putting
energies into problem solving rather than blaming, respecting and
helping one another, and celebrating with one another. Faculty and
students alike approach clinical and learning situations with a spirit
of inquiry, and they collaborate with each other - as well as with
alumni and community leaders - to create a professional culture that
supports the use and conduct of research and makes research real for
students. This environment is open to community-reflective scholarship,
supports diverse research methodologies, and eagerly embraces evidence-based
change that continually raises the quality of education. While many
may assume that recognition for contributions related to scholarship
would be given to nursing schools housed in research institutions
where there is a large cadre of researchers with extensive external
funding, the Blessing-Rieman College of Nursing challenges those assumptions.
The National League for Nursing is honored to recognize the Blessing-Rieman
College of Nursing for its sustained achievements in creating environments
that advance the science of nursing education, and we are pleased
to name it as an NLN Center of Excellence in Nursing Education.
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