Published March 07, 2018 
Weekly Digest
On March 4, the Chronicle of Higher Education released its 4th annual Trends Report, which outlines key shifts in academia that are impacting campuses nationwide. The trends of 2018 include growing security concerns, rebranding the PhD, maintaining the integrity of the peer review process, enhancing student success and graduation rates, and the rise of historically black colleges and universities. This report features case studies, analysis, and ideas to help college leaders stay informed and respond to pressing problems in imaginative ways, such as making a stronger case for the value of a degree, removing obstacles to graduation, and helping improve job prospects for doctoral candidates, among others. The report is free to Chronicle subscribers.
In the March 2018 issue of Academic Medicine, Drs. Catherine Lucey, George Thibault, and Olle ten Cate published a new article on Competency-Based, Time-Variable Education in the Health Professions: Crossroads. The authors outline the rationale behind the shift across the health profession to a competency-based education system. This educational strategy is guided by the roles and responsibilities that health professionals must assume to meet the needs of contemporary patients and communities. The work underway at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee to offer a flexible, competency-based Bachelor of Science in Nursing program is highlighted in this piece.
AACN Updates
Funding Available to AACN Members to Create Public/Population Health Learning Hubs >>
Dr. David Garr to Receive Bednash Lectureship Award at AACN Deans Annual Meeting >>
Register Now for IPEC Webinar: Innovative IPE Instructional Methods--Strategies & Lessons Learned >>
AACN Position on the Professoriate Published in the Journal of Professional Nursing >>

The Social Pulse
Stay Abreast of Public Policies Affecting Nursing with Charting Nursing's Future
Launched in 2005 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Charting Nursing's Future provides a look at nursing from the policy perspective. In March, stories will be published about the new and improved National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, how the Enhance Nurse Licensure Compact benefits military families, and a unique nurse-managed clinic serving uninsured racetrack workers.
CDC Invites Applications for the 2018 Million Hearts Hypertension Control Challenge Competition
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) invites nurses and other clinicians, health professionals, and health center to enter the 2018 Million Hearts Hypertension Control Challenge Competition. This competition was launched to identify clinicians, practices, and health systems that have demonstrated outstanding achievements in working with their patients to control hypertension. The deadline to apply is April 6.
Washington Weekly
Inside this edition of Washington Weekly: The Senate introduced the CARA 2.0 Act of 2018, which would authorize one billion in dedicated resources to counter the national opioid epidemic; mark your calendars for AACN's Spring Advocacy Day on March 26; and Dr. Alexis Bakos, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health in the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will kick off the AACN's 2018 Student Policy Summit as the keynote speaker.
Read AACN's Washington Weekly >>
Please Support and Encourage Participation in the 2018 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN)

Nurses play a critical role in the lives of patients across the country. That is why the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is dedicated to providing you, policy makers, and researchers with the most comprehensive data on U.S. registered nurses and nurse practitioners. To accomplish this, we need your help. Please support and encourage participation in the 2018 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN). This vital national survey is the primary source of data on the nursing workforce, the largest group of healthcare providers. The 2018 NSSRN will be sent to over 100,000 sampled registered nurses in March of 2018. Nurses will be able to fill out the survey electronically or through a paper questionnaire. It is imperative that nurses participate and send back as soon as possible.
Learn more >>
Member News & Announcements
- University of Kansas School of Nursing Clinical Associate Professor Moya Peterson has been named the 2018 winner of Modern Healthcare's Lillian Carter Exemplary Acts in Nursing Award. The award honors Dr. Peterson's work creating and directing the Adults with Down Syndrome Specialty Clinic in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Read more >>
- University of Utah College of Nursing Dean Patricia Morton was one of 12 Utah women recently honored at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival Utah Women's Leadership Celebration. Dr. Morton was cited for her leadership in health care--in particular, her passion for nursing, her work as a critical care nurse, and her advocacy for nursing education. Dr. Morton is Editor of the Journal of Professional Nursing, the official journal of AACN. Read more >>
- The Johns Hopkins School of Nursing (JHSON) has been selected as the Coordinating Centre for the Global Network of World Health Organization Collaborating Centres (WHOCCs) for Nursing and Midwifery. The international designation means JHSON will lead the Network's efforts in achieving its mission of strengthening nursing and midwifery to promote universal primary health care. Read more >>
- Southern Vermont College has announced the receipt of a $100,000 gift from award-winning former IBM executive Nicholas M. Donofrio to support scholarships for both new and transfer nursing students entering the BSN program. Distribution of The Nicholas Donofrio Distinguished Nursing Scholarship funds will begin in Fall 2018. Read more >>
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