From Start-up to Sustainability: A Decade of Collaboration to Shape the Future of Nursing

Associate Degree to Baccalaureate Nursing Degree: Dual Enrollment in an Asynchronous Online Program

BACKGROUND

Without formal collaboration with community colleges, a summer dual enrollment program was designed for associate degree in nursing (ADN) students to complete asynchronous online baccalaureate nursing (BSN) courses. The program aimed to reduce the time for BSN degree completion and increase the proportion and diversity of BSN nurses.

METHOD

Students enrolled in BSN courses during their ADN program completed up to seven courses during three summers, with seamless matriculation into the BSN program. A longitudinal study explored the demographics and experiences of students from 32 ADN programs.

RESULTS

There was greater diversity of dual-enrolled students compared with the RN workforce in the state. Students were satisfied with the program and were able to apply their BSN knowledge when completing their prelicensure courses; however, some found students faced challenges in financing their education.

CONCLUSION

The study and subsequent program growth demonstrated the feasibility of using this approach to engage ADN students earlier in their educational journey. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(11):606-613.].

Best practices and lessons learned in academic progression in nursing: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

The movement to advance academic preparation of entry-level nurses to the baccalaureate degree across the United States (U.S.) prompted the emergence of collaborative academic progression models. Since the National Academy of Medicine's (2010) call to action, nine states responded with academic progression collaboration models of nursing education to address the nursing shortage and prepare nurses for the increase in healthcare complexity.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this scoping review is to examine key features including best practices and lessons learned of academic progression initiatives in nine states: California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington. States that established academic progression models later are also included in this review.

METHODS

The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) procedures for scoping review were implemented to synthesize literature from multiple relevant sources including peer-reviewed journals and gray literature.

RESULTS

Best practices of academic progression models include local collaboration between academic institutions and program policy such as articulation agreements, seamless progression, and course transfer. Lessons learned include dissonance in faculty advising, employer support, and a paucity of data for robust program evaluation.

CONCLUSIONS

Academic progression models that not only remove barriers for students to attain the BSN degree but also facilitate collaboration and innovative learning demonstrate success in promoting meaningful academic progression and education mobility.

ADN to BSN Transitioning: An Early Decision Model

Incentivizing nursing students in associate degree programs (ADN) and facilitating transition into RN-to-BSN studies has been a goal of the nursing profession. One partnership has established an "early decision" model for students who want to declare their intent to seek a BSN while earning the ADN. This article discusses how the model creates a relationship between the college, the university, and the student to support the student's transition to the university and academic success.

Strategies for sustaining and enhancing nursing students' engagement in academic and clinical settings: a narrative review

Students' engagement in academic-related learning activities is one of the important determinants of students' success. Identifying the best teaching strategies to sustain and promote nursing students' engagement in academic and clinical settings has always been a challenge for nurse educators. Hence, it is essential to provide a set of strategies for maintaining and enhancing the academic engagement of nursing students. The purpose of this review was to explore and summarize the strategies that nurse educators use to sustain and promote nursing students' engagement in academic and clinical settings. A narrative literature review was conducted. CINAHL (nursing content), ProQuest, Medline, the Cochrane, Google Scholar, and Scopus were searched. Of 1,185 retrieved articles, 32 teaching strategies were identified and extracted from the nursing literature. We used thematic analysis approach to organize these strategies into five main categories as follows: technology-based strategies (15 articles), collaborative strategies (10 articles), simulation-based strategies (two articles), research-based strategies (two articles), and miscellanea learning strategies (three articles). As a general comment, these strategies have the potential to promote nursing students' engagement. Among the strategies discussed in this review, the use of technology, particularly the response system and online learning, was more common among nursing educators, which is in line with today's advances in smart technologies. The collection presented in this review can be used as a starting point for future research to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention on the academic engagement of nursing students. Nevertheless, due to the lack of experimental studies, the optimal strategies remain to be elucidated through future high-quality experimental study.

Longitudinal Analysis of Postlicensure Student Competency Perceptions

BACKGROUND

A longitudinal evaluation of the final year of the Oregon Consortium of Nursing Education (OCNE) curriculum was undertaken to explore students' perception of competency and benchmark proficiency.

METHOD

A retrospective, longitudinal mixed-methods study of postlicensure students was tracked from the initial Transition course to the final Capstone course to evaluate levels of attainment. Researchers used previously developed language categories of attainment for each benchmark to determine perceived competence.

RESULTS

Researcher analysis tested the narrative language of attainment levels using prior developed themes. Researchers coded student attainment levels in the Capstone course compared with the initial Transition course, with higher confidence for Competencies for Relationship-Centered Care and Clinical Judgment and lower confidence for Leadership and Population Care Competencies.

CONCLUSION

This analysis provided a deeper understanding of RN-to-baccalaureate student confidence toward attaining 10 OCNE competencies, supporting the continued development of a curriculum to address areas of low perceived competence. Tracking these competencies may strengthen accreditation processes. [J Nurs Educ. 2019;58(9):510-518.].