Background:

In 2003, the NLN Board of Governors approved a Position Statement entitled, Innovation in Nursing Education: A Call to Reform. This statement challenged faculty, nursing education leaders, and others (e.g., regulatory and accrediting bodies) to be more innovative regarding how we conceptualize nursing education, how we design and implement teaching/learning experiences, and how we evaluate learning and program outcomes, as well as the nature of outcomes to be considered as we reform nursing education. At that same time, the NLN’s Nursing Education Advisory Council (NEAC) established a Task Group on Innovation in Nursing Education to formulate strategies that would promote innovative practices in our schools of nursing. This Task Group facilitated a focus group during an Education Summit, conducted an online survey of faculty regarding innovative practices in their institutions, and encouraged deans/directors/chairpersons to engage their faculty in dialogue about the meaning of innovation in nursing education and the ways in which they could be more innovative. They also completed a review of all Board of Nursing regulations regarding statements that support or encourage innovation and developed model provisions for Boards to include that would achieve such goals. In essence, much work has been done to advance the notion of innovation in nursing education. However, much still needs to be done to overcome the barriers to innovation and to move the culture of more schools of nursing from one of safety and tradition to one of risk-taking and innovation. The 2005-2007 Task Group on Innovation will continue and expand the work of the original group to achieve broader goals.

Purpose of the Task Group:

The purpose of this Task Group is to promote innovation and encourage reform in all types of nursing programs

Specific Tasks to be Completed:

1. Advance a culture in all types of nursing programs (i.e., practical nurse, associate degree, diploma, baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral) that champions creativity, change and renewal
2. Assist faculty and nursing education leaders as they strive to achieve the NLN Hallmarks of Excellence in Nursing EducationTM, particularly the hallmark related to innovation
3. Propose strategies that nursing education researchers can use to assess the impact of innovation in nursing education on student learning and program outcomes
4. Design and pursue funding for a multi-site, multi-method research study related to innovation in nursing education and its impact on student learning, faculty satisfaction, student-faculty relationships, and program outcomes
5. Recommend to NEAC the reaffirmation of, or propose revisions to, the position statement entitled, Innovation in Nursing Education: A Call to Reform
6. Influence accrediting and regulatory bodies toward being more receptive, encouraging and accepting with respect to innovative practices in nursing education
7. Add information about innovation, innovation in education, and innovation in nursing education to NLN’s literature database in order to expand the repository of evidence on this topic
8. Monitor an electronic “community” on the topic of innovation in nursing education

Qualifications of Task Group Members:

• Active member of the NLN
• Experience teaching in nursing
• Embrace curiosity, creativity, and risk-taking
• Interest in nursing research and assessing outcomes related to innovation in nursing education
• Access to literature and other sources related to innovation
• Writing skills
• Technological competence that allows full participation in monitoring an electronic “community” on innovation, searching relevant literature, contributing to the online database, and other activities

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