Rounds with Leadership: Strategy, Synergy, and Impact

"A goal without a plan is just a wish."

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
French writer, aviator, war hero

As part of our work to chart the future of academic nursing, the AACN Board of Directors and senior staff completed a strategic planning process earlier this year. This critical work involved re-evaluating the association’s mission, vision, and values to ensure that they remain relevant as well as identifying specific goals and objectives for the timeframe spanning July 2025 through June 2028.

The resulting Strategic Plan serves as a detailed blueprint for guiding what programs and services we offer, how we engage with members and stakeholders, what issues we champion, and where we seek to have influence and impact.

As part of the process, we reassessed our vision statement, which conveys where we see AACN, nursing education, and the profession in the future. The Board moved to clarify what we hope to accomplish and for whom. The vision now reads: Nurses lead in the transformation of healthcare to optimize health and achieve health equity for all.

Further, the Board was intentional about strengthening AACN’s mission statement to emphasize the leadership role we play in steering the profession. Our mission now reads: AACN leads and champions excellence and innovation in nursing education, research, and practice.

In addition to reaffirming AACN’s values which define our approach to achieving excellence, the Board reviewed AACN’s four primary goals and objectives. Though the goal statements remain largely the same, the objectives were modified to better reflect current organizational priorities:

GOAL 1: AACN is the driving force for leadership, innovation, and excellence in academic nursing.

• Lead innovations that transform nursing education.
• Cultivate leadership at all levels within academic nursing.
• Promote research and scholarship that advance nursing education and practice.

GOAL 2: AACN is a leading partner in advancing improvements in health, healthcare, and higher education.

• Elevate nursing’s impact on driving innovation in healthcare and higher education.
• Advocate for policies that strengthen the nursing workforce, improve the nation’s health, and advance academic nursing.
• Expand academic-practice partnerships at the national and institutional levels.

GOAL 3: AACN is a resolute leader for inclusive excellence within nursing.

• Advance inclusive excellence and a culture of belonging in academic nursing.
• Prepare nurses to lead in addressing health inequity.
• Promote well-being within academic nursing.

GOAL 4: AACN is the authoritative source of knowledge to advance academic nursing.

• Serve as the leading source for information on issues and trends in academic nursing.
• Generate data and scholarship to inform decision-making and lead change.
• Synthesize and disseminate evidence showcasing the impact of nursing.

Meeting these goals and objectives will amplify the impact of nurse educators and program graduates on improving health and healthcare. AACN looks forward to working closely with member schools and colleagues on implementing this strategic plan, which promises to elevate academic nursing, safeguard the public’s health, and empower the communities we serve.