AACN News Watch Weekly Edition

Published August 26, 2020

Rounds with Leadership: Moving Toward Reopening Schools of Nursing

Whether your school is planning to invite students back for in-person classes in the fall or at some point next year, academic nursing leaders are challenged to determine how best to maintain program quality while protecting students and faculty from contracting and spreading COVID-19. To help ease this transition, AACN has worked with internationally noted expert Dr. Tener Goodwin Veenema from Johns Hopkins University to develop a new resource to help guide decision-making at your school of nursing.

Titled Considerations for Reopening U.S. Schools of Nursing During COVID-19, this guide provides recommendations related to assessing risk, the protections needed to safely resume campus activities, the continuity of education and research, clinical education and patient interactions, strengthening curriculum, and protecting the campus community. Building on evidence-based guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization, and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, this new document offers practical advice on maintaining nursing education programs, while taking steps to answer key questions.

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Weekly Digest

In the July-August 2020 issue of the Journal of Professional Nursing, Dr. Rosemary Hoffmann, associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, led a research team that published a guest editorial titled The Clinical Nurse Leader and COVID-19: Leadership and Quality at the Point of Care. With a greater number of CNLs employed in public health, clinical management, and other specialty areas, the authors argue that healthcare facilities can mitigate the challenges presented by COVID-19 with wider implementation of the CNL role. This editorial presents key CNL competencies and skills for optimal pandemic response.

On August 24, registered nurses Anna Dermenchyan and Kristen Choi from the University of California Los Angeles published a guest editorial in The Hill titled White House Coronavirus Task Force Is Missing a Nurse. To better respond to the pandemic, the authors argue that nurses are needed on federal, state, and local COVID-19 response teams and policy groups given that “nurses promote, advocate, and protect patients' rights, health, and safety using science and evidence-based practice.”

AACN Updates

AACN Members Endorse Resolution on Nurse Well-Being, Resilience, and Suicide Prevention

Upcoming Webinar, September 1: Keeping Nursing Students Safe in Clinicals

Academic Nursing Leadership Conference: The Virtual Experience Begins October 1

Recruit Top Candidates with AACN's Career Center

The Social Pulse

Call for Volunteer Reviewers for Scoping Literature Review

The Interprofessional Education Collaborative is seeking 3-5 article reviewers to review records that are uploaded into Rayyan, a free web-based tool used to help expedite the process of screening and selecting articles for inclusion in a comprehensive scoping review. If you are interested in volunteering, apply by September 2. Apply here and spread the word by retweeting this tweet.

In Their Own Words: Being a Learner During a Pandemic

Join Strada Education Network and Inside Higher Ed on September 2 at 2:00 pm (ET) for a live virtual event. Participants will hear learners from underserved backgrounds discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic and recession has affected them, their aspirations for the future, and the barriers they face. Register here.

Washington Weekly

Inside this edition of Washington Weekly: CARES Act Funding Available for Institutions of Higher Education; Senate Republicans Put Forward ‘Skinny’ COVID-19 Relief Package; Save the Date: NIDA Grant Opportunity to Elevate Your Career and Help the Community.

Read AACN's Washington Weekly >>

To support the information needs of nursing school deans, faculty, students, and other stakeholders, AACN has developed a resource center to highlight key information sources found on the Web regarding COVID-19. The following information and opportunities are currently featured.

AACN Gallery of Leadership

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