Essentials Task Force

Below are links to various resources containing updates on the work of the Essentials Task Force to date. 

• Recorded presentation at ANLC, October 20, 2019 - Re-envisioning the AACN Essentials: A Task Force Update
• PowerPoint presentation at ANLC, October 20, 2019 – Re-envisioning the AACN Essentials: A Task Force Update
• Draft Domains and Descriptors, October 18, 2019
• Reports to AACN membership:
  • March 2019
  • October 2019 

AACN has a long history of leadership in the establishment of the educational benchmarks and expected outcomes of baccalaureate and graduate nursing education programs. In keeping with this tradition, this task force is charged with re-envisioning the Essentials, which delineate the expected competencies of graduates of baccalaureate, master’s, and DNP programs as well as the essential curricular elements that are to be present in these programs. The task force is charged with:

1. Using the AACN Vision for Academic Nursing as a basis, identify how trends and expectations will influence nursing’s roles and the practice of baccalaureate, master’s, and DNP prepared nursing graduates within healthcare delivery for the next decade.

2. Assess the practice community’s expectations for nursing graduates at the different levels and how these may change over the next ten years. 

3. Considering AACN’s Vision for Academic Nursing, make recommendations on the Essential areas to be addressed. By specific program level, this would include identifying practice domains and competency measures for:

• All baccalaureate nursing graduates, including BSN, RN to BSN, and accelerated BSN graduates
• Post-baccalaureate MSN and Master’s Entry (second degree) program graduates
• DNP graduates

4. Review and agree on common definitions for competence, competency, and competency framework. 

5. Describe a set of observable behaviors for each competency that would be expected of each graduate. 

6. Align the competencies for baccalaureate, master’s, and DNP education, ensuring that they are appropriately leveled and advance nursing practice across the healthcare system and continuum of care. 

7. Develop recommendations for the practice learning experiences necessary to assure that nursing graduates are prepared for safe and high-quality nursing practice, including the placement within the curriculum, types, and length.

8. Address the use of simulation in the curriculum for the preparation of baccalaureate, master’s, and DNP graduates.

9. Develop recommendations and strategies for AACN and the full contingent of academic programs to disseminate and implement the new Essentials.