Establishing a nursing center: learning from the literature and the experiences of others

In the midst of health care reform, academic nursing centers are well-positioned as cost-effective health care providers. As practice sites that are integral components of nursing academic units, these centers provide educational experiences for students, practice sites for faculty, nursing services to the community, and settings for nursing research. The success of these centers is determined by their ability to manage seven major issues of implementation: funding, integrating the center into the community, services, marketing, legal and regulatory issues, faculty issues, and research issues. While these issues require considerable attention, it is critical that centers capitalize on the opportunities provided by the current health policy climate.