As the collective voice for academic nursing, AACN serves as the catalyst for excellence and innovation in nursing education, research, and practice.
Explore our current initiatives below.
The AACN Essentials outline the necessary curriculum content and expected competencies of graduates from baccalaureate, master’s, and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs.
Resources that support enhanced teaching of concepts of population health and provide practical, hands-on experience at the community level for nursing students.
AACN is a primary advocate for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusivity within academic nursing.
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AACN actively promotes best practices and exemplars related to faculty and student wellness in our programming and through strategic collaborations.
Since 2013, AACN has received over $20 million in grant funding that support our initiatives and help drive leadership, innovation, and excellence in academic nursing.
Nursing’s Centralized Application Service for Nursing provides accredited nursing schools with a free, robust admissions platform to streamline the application review process.
The association has worked collaboratively to develop resources for nursing leaders looking to develop and sustain effective academic-practice partnerships, a top priority for AACN.
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ELNEC is a national and international education initiative to improve palliative care. The project, administered by City of Hope, provides training in palliative care so they can teach this essential information to nursing students, practicing nurses and other healthcare professionals.
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The CNL® is a master’s educated nurse, prepared for practice across the continuum of care within any healthcare setting. The CNL was developed by AACN in collaboration with leaders from healthcare practice and education to address the critical need to improve the quality of patient care outcomes.
Vizient and AACN connects members with opportunities to learn, improve, and grow. The Nurse Residency Program (NRP) focuses on new entry-level nurses as they transition into practice.
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs prepare nurse leaders at the highest level of nursing practice to improve patient outcomes and translate research into practice.
AACN's education resources, curriculum guidelines, and tool kits provide a framework for positioning baccalaureate and graduate-degree nursing programs to meet the healthcare challenges of a new century. Nursing deans and faculty nationwide have used the following resources produced by AACN to prepare practice-ready nurses.