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National League for Nursing - Excellence Initiatives
2008-2011 Centers of Excellence Designees
Duquesne
University School of Nursing
Duquesne University’s School of Nursing is known to many because of its
innovativeness, its excellence, and its exceptional dean. Through the efforts
of 32 full-time faculty, more than 650 students enrolled in the baccalaureate,
master’s, and doctoral nursing programs offered at Duquesne University
are challenged to think in new ways and prepared to provide leadership within
their communities and the profession.
The School of Nursing has created an environment that enhances student learning
and professional development through its commitment to the institutional mission
to “serve God through serving students.” This environment is marked
by a pioneering spirit for educational innovation and supported by a strong,
collective vision of the faculty to meet the learning needs of each student.
Duquesne’s School of Nursing offered the first on-line PhD program in
the nation … a program that proudly reports high graduation rates and
strong performance from graduates. The community-based undergraduate curriculum
is responsive to the health care needs of the region and employment trends for
nurses. And the on-line educational programming offered to students epitomizes
the mantra of “distance education with no distance between us.”
As the first academic institution to fully operationalize the American Association
of Critical Care Nurses’ Synergy Model of Patient Care as an organizing
framework for its curricula, the School of Nursing at Duquesne University empowers
students and faculty to co-create communities of practice and communities of
learning. Both groups are involved extensively in collaborative partnerships
with clinical colleagues and local neighborhoods, and all are engaged equally
in a commitment to lifelong learning and high quality care.
In recognition of its innovation in curriculum design … its creative
initiatives in clinical simulations, assessment and concept mapping …
its engagement of students in research efforts to standardize nursing language
… and its use of outcome date to confirm that educational technologies
are being leveraged effectively in on-line learning for students across generations,
cultures and learning styles … For all of these things and more, the NLN
is proud to name the Duquesne University School as a Center of Excellence in
Nursing Education for Creating Environments that Promote Student Learning and
Professional Development.
East Carolina
University College of Nursing
In a university of approximately 27,000, the more-than-100 faculty in the College
of Nursing at East Carolina University take on the challenge of educating nearly
1,200 students through its baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs
… and they meet that challenge with creativity, dedication, and an unwavering
commitment to students. As the school that graduates more new nurses than any
other school in North Carolina … and that is part of a comprehensive health
sciences division with the School of Medicine, College of Allied Health Sciences,
and School of Dentistry … East Carolina University’s School of Nursing
is a powerful force in driving innovation and excellence in nursing education.
The school offers distance education graduate programs to more than 550 individuals
and is committed to service-through-education opportunities to these and all
professional nurses through regional partnerships, innovative learner-centered
pedagogies, and creative use of technology. This active engagement of students
and faculty in their communities serves to enhance student learning and professional
development, as well as advance the profession.
Faculty are encouraged and supported to develop new pedagogies that create
and sustain dynamic learning environments, and they are supported to continually
develop their pedagogical expertise in order to create exceptional learning
experiences for students. The College boasts a total of eight faculty who are
certified nurse educators, as well as two Fellows in the NLN’s Academy
of Nursing Education. In addition, the College is the home of the East Carolina
Center for Nursing Leadership, and students are involved in programs that support
the mission of this Center to mobilize nurses to be effective partners and leaders
in creating healthier communities in eastern North Carolina.
It is clear that the faculty of the East Carolina University School of Nursing
have successfully created environments that Promote Student Learning and Professional
Development, and the National League for Nursing is most pleased to designate
them as a Center of Excellence in Nursing Education for these exceptional accomplishments.
Excelsior
College of Nursing
It is with great pleasure that the National League for Nursing award continuing
designation as an NLN Center of Excellence in Nursing Education to the Excelsior
College School of Nursing. Since receiving initial designation in 2005 for their
excellent work in Creating Environments that Promote Student Learning and Professional
Development, the students and faculty in this school have sustained and, indeed,
enhanced excellence.
Guided by a collective vision of making an exceptional nursing program available
to nurses all over the country, the Excelsior College School of Nursing was
and continues to be a pioneer in distance education. They offer associate degree,
RN-to-BS, RN-to-MS, and master’s programs to more than twenty thousand
individuals and continue to document great success preparing those individuals
for roles as bedside clinicians, clinical systems managers, nurse informaticists,
and nurse educators.
The non-traditional learners who enroll at the Excelsior College School of
Nursing come from diverse backgrounds and often live at enormous distances from
the school and from one another. They challenge faculty to be creative in their
approaches to teaching and learning, to design and implement a highly flexible
curriculum, to understand and respond to individual learning needs, and to design
experiences that develop self-awareness, facilitate respect, and demonstrate
caring. Without question, faculty rise to that challenge again and again.
Pedagogical research is used to develop innovative program designs that prepare
graduates to engage in high-quality, evidence-based practice, and curricula
are flexible and dynamic in order to remain current and relevant, as well as
empower students to pursue individual interests as they learn the practice of
nursing.
Despite the challenge of distance, students are fully engaged in the school,
and the school has received awards for the supportive environments it creates,
including the 2006 and 2007 Best School Award from the American Assembly for
Men in Nursing.
As the largest school of nursing educating nurses at a distance, Excelsior
College exemplifies the creativity of faculty, innovative ways to promote student
learning and professional development, and leadership. It is with great pleasure
that the National League for Nursing bestow upon the Excelsior College School
of Nursing the continued privilege of being a Center of Excellence in Nursing
Education … a school that can be held up as exemplary.
Regis
College School of Nursing and Health Professions
The Regis College School of Nursing is committed to cultural diversity, lifelong
learning, empowerment, caring, and promoting the health of communities. Being
ever mindful of the needs of today’s practice arena, the faculty are encouraged
to step “out of the box” and modify, renew and create cutting edge
curricula and programs that prepare graduates to meet the needs of the ever-changing
health care delivery system and patient populations that present with increasingly
complex needs.
Faculty facilitate the translation of academic principles into the practice
environment through student-centered learning while encouraging students to
be creative and attain their individual goals. An emphasis on helping students
maximize their potential also was evident in the “story” told by
this school in their application.
The nursing faculty at Regis College have a long history of using innovative,
dynamic, and pedagogically-sound teaching methodologies to assure a relevant
learning environment for the students enrolled in their associate degree, baccalaureate,
master’s, and doctoral programs. It is clear that the School of Nursing
at the Regis College School of Nursing has created and sustained an Environment
that Promotes Student Learning and Professional Development, and the National
League for Nursing is proud to award them designation as an NLN Center of Excellence
in Nursing Education.
Trinitas
School of Nursing
The Trinitas Hospital School of Nursing -- a private, Catholic nursing school
located in the city of Elizabeth, NJ -- draws students from diverse backgrounds.
This past spring -- which is representative of all semesters -- a full 80% of
the students came from ethnic minority groups … 40% were African-American,
25% were Hispanic, and 15% were Asian. Since 1947, the school has maintained
a partnership with a local community college and in 1971 formed the Cooperative
Nursing Program, through which students earn a diploma in nursing from Trinitas
and an associate degree in science from the college.
For more than 37 years, the School has been the fiercest advocate for its
widely diverse student body, and its historical commitment to open access and
educational mobility has provided an opportunity for life-changing educational
attainment and professional advancement for students within a changing urban
environment. Simulation is integrated into all clinical nursing courses, and
faculty are committed to implementing evidence-based teaching practices. The
dean of the school was inducted in the inaugural group of Fellows in the NLN’s
Academy of Nursing Education, and 100% of eligible faculty are CNE certified.
Surely, these last two achievements speak to the faculty’s dedication
to creating environments of excellence for its amazingly diverse student population.
Designation of the Trinitas Hospital School of Nursing as an NLN Center of
Excellence in Nursing Education is awarded for their exceptional and sustained
efforts to Create Environments that Promote Student Learning and Professional
Development.
University of North
Carolina at Greensboro
The faculty of the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at
Greensboro are engaged in extensive activities that are designed to enhance
the teaching abilities of faculty to most effectively meet student learning
needs. These faculty have formulated a collective vision that promotes excellence
in teaching, student advisement, and curriculum development, and they implement
a systematic and rigorous program of internal faculty development workshops,
consultants, peer review, mentoring, and attendance at numerous professional
conferences to realize that vision.
Faculty interactions with students and professional colleagues are characterized
by mutual respect, empowerment, collaboration, and trust … and they promote
innovation. As a result of their concerted efforts to consistently develop the
pedagogical expertise of faculty, this school enjoys exceptional rates of student
and faculty satisfaction, a high rate of faculty retention, and a faculty collective
that is highly productive in terms of publications, presentations, and research.
A student from UNCG was the winner of the NLN’s first Student Excellence
Paper competition, launched in 2007, and faculty have received signature awards
that recognize their commitment to excellence in nursing education, including
an Excellence in Education Award from the National Conference of GNPs and Fellowship
in the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. Since receiving initial
designation as an NLN Center of Excellence in 2005, UNCG has served as a host
school for others planning to apply for such designation and submitted a manuscript
to Nursing Education Perspectives based on their experiences as a Center of
Excellence.
Designation as an NLN Center of Excellence in Nursing Education was well deserved
when it was bestowed on this school in 2005, and as a result of the sustained
exceptional work of faculty in Creating Environments that Promote the Pedagogical
Expertise of Faculty, the honor continues to be well deserved. We are inspired
by the commitment to faculty, their efforts to advance excellence in nursing
education, and their exemplary leadership in the field.
2004 Designees | 2005
Designees | 2006 Designees | 2007
Designees | 2008 Designees
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