On-Demand Webinars

Webinar Details

As healthcare and higher education continue to evolve, this webinar introduces the AACN Ecosystem of Excellence in Academic Nursing—a strategic, evidence-informed framework designed to help academic nursing programs align mission, people, and systems to support the success of students, staff, and faculty.

Building on AACN’s 2021 Inclusive Excellence Ecosystem, the updated model advances from awareness to integration. It provides flexible, sustainable strategies that can be adapted across institutional types and contexts. Grounded in AACN’s Access, Connection, and Engagement (ACE) vision, the Ecosystem transforms that vision into action by aligning human experience, operational effectiveness, and institutional culture.

The session will highlight the Ecosystem’s structure—its three interdependent Cores (Human, Operational, and Institutional)—and their associated Conditions that create environments where excellence is both human-centered and systems-driven. Participants will also explore the forthcoming Ecosystem Toolkit, which includes adaptable strategies, real-world scenarios, reflection questions, and a progress scorecard to help nursing programs strengthen infrastructure, enhance teaching and scholarship, and foster environments where all members of the academic nursing community can thrive.

Learning Outcomes:

After participating in this webinar, attendees will be able to:

1. Summarize the purpose and evolution of the AACN 2025 Ecosystem of Excellence in Academic Nursing.
2. Explain how the Ecosystem operationalizes AACN’s Access, Connection, and Engagement (ACE) vision.
3. Describe the framework’s structure, including its three Cores and corresponding Conditions.
4. Articulate how the Ecosystem supports success and well-being for students, staff, and faculty.

About the Ecosystem

The AACN Ecosystem of Excellence in Academic Nursing is a comprehensive, evidence-informed framework that aligns mission, people, and systems to create environments where all students, staff, and faculty can thrive.

At its foundation are the Humanistic Conditions—Healthy, Psychologically Safe, Connected, Supported, Valued, and Prepared—that enable individuals to achieve their best. These are integrated through the Ecosystem’s three Cores:

• Human Core, which centers on the Humanistic Conditions that foster well-being and engagement.
• Operational Core, which aligns systems and strategies through five Institutional Conditions: Infrastructure and Capacity, Climate and Intergroup Relations, Education and Scholarship, Access and Success, and Community Engagement.
• Institutional Core, which grounds excellence in shared culture through five Cultural Conditions: Mission, Vision, Values, Traditions, and Norms.

The Operational Core is supported by a digital Ecosystem Toolkit that translates the framework into actionable strategies and measurable outcomes, including:

• Strategies that strengthen policies, practices, and structures
• Scenarios illustrating real-world challenges and solutions—each intentionally linked to the Humanistic Conditions of the Ecosystem and aligned with relevant AACN Essentials
• Reflection questions that promote dialogue, planning, and innovation
• Dashboards and planning tools to monitor progress and outcomes
• Curated supporting literature that provides evidence and context for implementation

Note: Recording of the webinar will be available soon after the webinar airs. Visit AACN's On-Demand Webinars to watch.

This webinar is hosted by AACN’s Research Leadership Network (RLN).

Webinar Details

In this webinar, Dr. Ruccione considers how the obligation to return research results to patients and families aligns with ethical practices and principles. The webinar examines benefits and challenges of how returning aggregate research results are weighed and highlights how the pediatric cancer clinical trials group, the Children’s Oncology Group, has implemented a nurse-led return of results initiative. This module could serve as an exemplar for returning research results to participants in studies and scholarly projects in areas other than pediatric oncology.

Outcomes:

• Describe rationale and potential benefits of returning research results (ROR) to study participants  
• Ascertain status of implementation of ROR in the Children’s Oncology Group  
• Identify ways nurses can facilitate ROR in their practice setting   

Note: Recording of the webinar will be available soon after the webinar airs. Visit AACN's On-Demand Webinars to watch.

Webinar Details

Competency-Based Education (CBE) is reshaping nursing education by shifting the focus from what students know to what they can do. This approach emphasizes descriptive, observable behaviors that support learning, competency development, and readiness for professional practice. Central to this shift are Progression Indicators (PIs), which translate sub-competencies into clear, observable behaviors that faculty, preceptors, and students can use as a shared roadmap for learning.

This webinar will explore how PIs support backward curriculum design, clarify expectations, and align assessments with the behaviors students must demonstrate in practice. By making competence visible, PIs help educators foster transparency, strengthen experiential learning opportunities, and promote equitable readiness for professional nursing practice. 

Outcomes:

• Analyze the role of progression indicators in competency-based education and how they guide learning and assessment.
• Demonstrate how to align program outcomes, course objectives/learner outcomes, and assessments with progression indicators to support learner development.
• Design strategies for using progression indicators to provide consistent, transparent, and developmentally sequenced assessment of student competency. 

Note: Recording of the webinar will be available soon after the webinar airs. Visit AACN's On-Demand Webinars to watch.

Webinar Details

We all have a program, project, or initiative that provided a successful solution to a challenge in an area of Advancement Services—fundraising, alumni relations, communications, marketing. NAP wants to recognize the great work of our membership during the Annual Nursing Advancement Professional Leadership Award. In this AACN NAP Brown Bag you will hear from last year’s winners on what makes a winning entry, hear from awards committee members about this year’s awards and get your questions answered before nominations open later this fall.

Nursing Advancement Professionals Leadership Award

Advancement Services Distinction Award: A program, project, or initiative that provided a successful solution to a challenge in any area of Advancement Services (fundraising, alumni relations, communications, marketing). This could be anything, including student recruitment, alumni cultivation, a targeted fundraising initiative, giving event, annual giving campaign or any of the issues currently facing nursing colleges/schools or the profession. Entries should include a rational on overall strategy, show a strategic use of resources, provide examples of messaging, details on execution, results, and/or utilized innovative practices. Submitting collateral or other supporting materials used in the program, project, or initiative is required.

NOTE: This is an AACN Member only webinar.

Webinar Details

Ready to disrupt the status quo in clinical education and healthcare outcomes? This high-impact session is designed for forward-thinking educators ready to serve as health equity catalysts. Participants will be challenged to reimagine their influence, not only in practice, but in policy, pedagogy, and population health.

This session features the Health Equity Influencers Program (HEIP, pronounced "hype"), a bold innovative ecosystem that positions students and nurse educators as powerful agents of systemic change. Far more than conventional clinical education and leadership development models, HEIP redefines learning and leadership, lifting it from an academic checkbox to an outcomes-driven dynamic force that bridges classrooms, clinical settings and the communities we serve.  

Educators seeking to drive measurable actions that advance health equity, elevate patient safety, and reshape care delivery across community and acute care settings will  find this session essential for leading meaningful transformation. 

HEIP for Nurse Educators
Health equity catalysts transforming learning institutions  

HEIP in the Community
Meeting community members where they work, play, pray and stay

HEIP in Acute Care Settings
Nursing students as partners advancing patient safety and quality improvement initiatives

High School Scholars & Influencers
Building a pipeline of health equity influencers as students engage family and friends to improve health outcomes

Outcomes:

Participants will be able to:

• Design innovative approaches to broaden clinical education sites and experiences that advance health equity.
• Lead measurable actions that elevate patient safety and position nursing students as catalysts for healthcare transformation.
• Evaluate the impact of health equity initiatives across clinical and community settings to drive continuous improvement and systemic change.

Note: Recording of the webinar will be available soon after the webinar airs. Visit AACN's On-Demand Webinars to watch.

Webinar Details

As nursing education transforms to embrace competency-based education (CBE), simulation emerges as a vital strategy for advancing experiential learning across the classroom, lab, and clinical environment. This webinar, offered in collaboration with leaders from the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL), will guide AACN members in exploring how simulation can elevate instructional approaches and strengthen learner outcomes. Designed for faculty at every level—including classroom instructors, course coordinators, clinical faculty, and simulation educators—this session will highlight the Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice® and their application across diverse educational settings. Participants will gain evidence-based insights, practical strategies, and innovative examples of how simulation fosters meaningful learning, competency development, and rigorous evaluation. Attendees will also be introduced to INACSL resources to support continued growth and integration of simulation as a cornerstone of CBE in nursing education.

Outcomes:

• Apply the Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice® across multiple modalities to support experiential learning and competency-based education.  
• Evaluate strategies for integrating best practices in teaching, learning, and assessment to improve outcomes in nursing and healthcare simulation.  
• Integrate INACSL resources and evidence-based strategies to support faculty growth and the adoption of simulation as a cornerstone of competency-based education (CBE).

Note: Recording of the webinar will be available soon after the webinar airs. Visit AACN's On-Demand Webinars to watch.

Webinar Details

Engaging in advocacy as a graduate student is a powerful way to amplify the nursing voice and drive meaningful change within the profession. In this webinar, you will be introduced to AACN’s newest resource hub, the Face of Academic Nursing, and explore the impact of federal nursing programs including the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development programs and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). You’ll gain practical insights into how to navigate federal advocacy opportunities and contribute to the Face of Academic Nursing by sharing your story and impact.

Outcomes: 

• Learn more about Title VIII and NINR.
• Discover how you can contribute to the Face of Academic Nursing initiative.  
• Identify additional opportunities and strategies to engage in advocacy at the federal level.  
   

Note: Recording of the webinar will be available soon after the webinar airs. Visit AACN's On-Demand Webinars to watch.

Webinar Details

Health systems and public health agencies are under increasing stress due to the impact of climate change. Nurse leaders are uniquely positioned to respond by guiding health systems, supporting health workforce and building healthier and more resilient communities. This session will explore how nurse leaders can act  strategically and collaboratively to drive solutions for a better future.

Outcomes:

• Explore current best practices for leading climate-resilient, low-carbon and sustainable health systems
• Learn resilience for the “polycrisis’ world ahead by thinking about ‘polysolutions’. 

This webinar is hosted by Jonas Nursing.

Presented by the Nursing Advancement Professionals (NAP) Leadership Network

Webinar Details

You have probably heard by now that AI is changing the way nursing schools connect with students, alumni, and donors—but how can you harness it effectively? In this interactive session, we’ll focus on AI prompt engineering, a game-changing skill that helps you generate clear, compelling, and impactful content with ease. Through hands-on demonstrations, you’ll learn how to craft better prompts to create engaging emails, social media posts, newsletters, and more—saving time while improving quality.

We’ll also explore visual generative AI, showcasing top tools for AI-generated images and video content, and how they can be used to enhance branding and storytelling. Plus, we’ll discuss AI-driven efficiency, showing how AI can help streamline repetitive tasks, personalize outreach, and boost productivity—allowing nursing schools to do more with fewer resources.

Whether you're new to AI or looking to refine your approach, this session will provide practical, real-world strategies to help you integrate AI into your communication efforts while keeping messaging authentic and impactful.

NOTE: This is an AACN Member only webinar.

Webinar Details

Spiritual care, broadly defined as care of a person’s inner spirit, is important for all nurses to understand and implement in practice. Research demonstrates that strengthening the inner spirit in turn influences the mind and body toward healing. This webinar focuses on the four areas defining what spirituality is and how it intersects with health. Spiritual care is also described, using the acronym PLAY, along with discussion on how to facilitate such care. Finally, the most effective ways to train both students and working nurses are addressed, and everyone is reminded that learning about spiritual care is a life-long journey.

Outcomes:

By the end of this session, viewers will be able to:

• Define the four main aspects of the spiritual domain
• Describe the three primary elements of spiritual care
• Explain the importance of spiritual care by nurses from both the nurse and the patient perspectives 

Note: Recording of the webinar will be available soon after the webinar airs. Visit AACN's On-Demand Webinars to watch.