The Academic-Practice Partnership: Educating Future Nurses.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Partnerships
• Quality Improvement in Nursing

Background:

• Effective academic-practice partnerships are vital for nursing workforce development.
• Models require shared vision, leadership, and knowledge exchange for success.
• Preparing nurses with quality and safety competencies is a critical need.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe an academic-practice partnership model for an Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program.
• To facilitate a seamless education-to-practice pathway for graduate nurses.
• To meet healthcare system demands for nurses skilled in quality and safety.

Main Methods:

• A collaborative model based on AACN-AONL Guiding Principles was implemented.
• Partnership involved a private university school of nursing and an affiliated healthcare system.
• Focus on developing quality and safety competencies in nursing graduates.

Main Results:

• The partnership successfully launched a new ABSN program track.
• 84% of program graduates secured employment with the partner healthcare system.
• Encouraging student outcomes in quality and safety competencies were observed.

Conclusions:

• Academic-practice partnerships can effectively prepare nurses with essential competencies.
• This model addresses healthcare workforce demands and enhances graduate employability.
• Collaboration is key to innovative nursing education and practice.