Looking through the right end of the telescope: creating a focused vision for a school of nursing

The challenges facing nursing higher education necessitate that academic administrators have a focused vision for their schools of nursing. Nursing, like other areas of higher education, embraced the concept of strategic planning to set priorities, use resources wisely, and take advantage of available opportunities that were consistent with the strategic direction. While there has been a shift toward a less-structured approach to planning, nursing deans need tools to assess the environment, make rational decisions, set priorities, plan for change, and develop strategies to meet the short-term and long-term goals of the unit. Given the challenges facing nursing education and higher education, the need for a planning approach is critical. The case study in this article describes a flexible and creative approach to the planning process that helped the University of Virginia School of Nursing set priorities and achieve its goals.