Citing the Essentials in Scholarly Work

AACN encourages faculty to use the 2021 Essentials as a resource to advance your scholarship and research in the area of nursing education and the preparation of practice-ready nurses. Please keep the following guidelines in mind:

• When citing the Essentials as a reference in a journal article, poster, presentation, or other work to be disseminated, please use the following citation:

American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2021). The Essentials: Core competencies for professional nursing education. Accessible online at https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Publications/Essentials-2021.pdf

• When extracting tables, paragraphs, or larger segments of content for scholarly purposes, please seek permission by contacting AACN’s Editorial Director Bill O’Connor at boconnor@aacnnursing.org with details on the content to be cited. The process is simple, and the turnaround time for approval is typically within 2-3 days. 

If you are unsure about if a citation will suffice or permission is needed, contact Bill O’Connor at boconnor@aacnnursing.org

Licensing Use of the Essentials for Commercial Purposes

AACN supports the efforts of companies to develop products and services to assist schools of nursing in the implementation of the Essentials and the move to competency-based education. Though AACN has not endorsed any products or services related to the Essentials, we are requiring all companies, organizations, and individuals offering products using content from the Essentials to sign a licensing agreement and comply with all terms as outlined. To find out more about the no-cost licensing agreement, contact essentials@aacnnursing.org. 

NOTE:  Technology companies interested in offering products to assist with Essentials implementation are encouraged to review AACN’s Vision for Sharing Data and Information Across Nursing Education, Practice, and Regulation.