cademic-practice partnerships are a critical keyto strengthen nursing practice and assist nurs-

ing in leading change and advancing health carein our communities. The Institute of Medicine (IOM)Future of Nursing report,1 released in 2010, identified theneed for nurses to achieve higher levels of education andtraining through an improved education system that pro-motes seamless academic progression.

Although the IOM report brought the need to theforefront, the necessity for successful partnershipsbetween academic and practice had been identified priorto the release of the report. In 2008, the Advisory Board’sNursing Executive Center published a report detailingthe results of an extensive survey of service and academicleaders that identified gaps in 36 competencies in newlygraduated nurses. Also in 2008, the American Associationof Colleges of Nursing (AACN) reported that US nurs-ing schools turned away more than 40,000 qualifiedapplicants from baccalaureate nursing programs becauseof an insufficient number of faculty, clinical sites, andlimited classroom space.2 This number grew to more than65,000 qualified applicants in 2010,3 with lack of clinicalpreceptors and budgetary restraints added to the originalreasons for not accepting qualified applicants.

Prior to the release of the IOM report, AONE andAACN identified this critical need and formed theAACN-AONE Task Force on Academic PracticePartnerships to initiate a national dialogue on currentand future best practices in academic-practice partner-ships. As part of this ongoing work, the 2 organizationsconvened a 2-day summit in April 2013 in Chicago,“Implementing Successful Academic-PracticePartnerships: Setting the Stage.”

The summit brought together over 50 teams of nurseleaders and their academic partners from across the coun-try. Throughout the summit, the teams heard best prac-tices from colleagues who have developed and sustainedmodels for partnerships that are goal-driven and out-come-focused and have proven to be mutually beneficial.In addition to hearing best practices, additional resources

that have been developed by the AACN-AONE TaskForce were presented and shared.

COLLABORATING TO TRANSFORM FROM A SICKCARE SYSTEM TO A HEALTH CARE SYSTEMThe summit opened with a preconference session led byMelanie Dreher, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean of RushUniversity College of Nursing in Chicago, IL. Dr. Dreherand her team shared the current Graduate NurseEducation (GNE) model at Rush University that wasmade possible through a culture of collaboration withtheir practice partner, led by Rush University MedicalCenter Chief Nursing Officer Cynthia Borginere,DNPC, RN, FACHE.

Administered by the Centers for Medicaid andMedicare Services (CMS), the GNE initiative is a 4-yeardemonstration project mandated by the Affordable CareAct. The goal of the initiative is to increase the numberof APRNs trained to meet the anticipated increase inhealth care demand. Dr. Dreher shared the Rush modelof transforming a “sick care” system into a health caresystem by providing a learning environment in whichstudents learn to practice in sites that are platforms ofinnovation, preparing graduates to lead change. As part ofthe CMS demonstration project, 5 medical centers part-nering with a school of nursing, including RushUniversity School of Nursing, were awarded GNE funds.First year outcomes included charity clinic training fornurse practitioner students, the development ofillness/self-management wellness models, and on-siteemployer-based clinics addressing the needs of low- tomiddle-income employees.

Dr. Dreher shared important first year lessons, includ-ing the understanding that GNE only opens the door, itis necessary to establish mutual benefit to sustain strongpartnerships, and project teams must invest time in rela-tionship-building and sustaining. To date, the initiative hasresulted in increased graduation rates of advanced prac-tice nurses, practice improvements and innovation, andgraduates who are equipped to lead change.

A

Building Academic-PracticePartnerships:

Sharing Best PracticesBy Sharon A. Gale, MSN, RN, Chief Executive Officer, Organization of Nurse Leaders,

Massachusetts-Rhode Island, Woburn, MA, and AONE Region 1 Director; and Judy A. Beal, DNSc, RN, FNAP, FAAN, Dean and Professor, School of Nursing

and Health Sciences, Simmons College, Boston, MA

www.nurseleader.com Nurse Leader 21

22 Nurse Leader August 2013

HEALTHY CHICAGO: PROGRESS TOWARDIMPROVING THE HEALTH OF A COMMUNITYThe summit officially opened with a keynote deliv-ered by Bechara Choucair, MD, commissioner of theChicago Department of Public Health, who describednumerous innovative and forward-thinking programsthat are part of the city’s first-ever comprehensivepublic health strategy. Dr. Choucair shared that thegoal of the initiative served as a blueprint for afocused approach to implement policies, developsystems, and develop environmental changes that willprioritize initiatives and transform the health of thecity’s residents over the next 5 years.

Key outcomes of the initiative focus on reducingtobacco use, obesity prevention, HIV prevention,access to health care, violence prevention, adolescenthealth, and many other key health factors. He sharednumerous programs that have been executed to tar-get these measures. One example was programs putinto place to fight obesity in the city, which includedthe addition of 27 miles of buffered and protectedbike lanes, 500 new bike racks throughout the city,the addition of over 13 licensed fruit/vegetable cartsto provide fresh food in currently defined fooddeserts, and the addition of farmers’ marketsthroughout the city.

Dr. Choucair shared with the group that the pro-gram has been successful as a result of true and coura-geous partnerships that have a mutual commitmentand focus on achieving specific and measurable out-comes. His presentation did an excellent job of settingthe stage for the remainder of the summit.

SHARING BEST PRACTICES—SUCCESSFULMODELS OF ACADEMIC-PRACTICEPARTNERSHIPSThe second day of the summit opened with a presen-tation on an existing academic-practice partnershipbetween the Arizona State University College ofNursing and Health Innovation and Mayo Clinic.Summit attendees learned about an innovative multi-dimensional partnership approach that included part-nering with the Mayo Clinic to expand clinicaltraining opportunities and collaboration with theHerberger Institute for Design and the Arts to provideinnovative learning experiences that link health careand building design.

In addition to these partnerships, they established apartnership with Banner Health to strengthen thearray of opportunities for RN to BSN nurses andother nursing education pathways and with ScottsdaleHealthcare to increase the primary care nursing

AACN-AONE Academic-PracticePartnerships Steering Committee Members

Sharon A. Gale, MSN, RN, Co-ChairAONE RepresentativeChief Executive OfficerOrganization of Nurse Leaders, MA-RIWoburn, MA

Judy Beal, DNSc, Co-ChairSimmons CollegeDepartment of NursingBoston, MA

Anna Alt-White, PhDVA Headquarters Washington, DC

Judith Erickson, PhDJacksonville UniversitySchool of NursingJacksonville, FL

Irene Fleshner, MHSAGenesis HealthcareKennett Square, PA

Judith Karshmer, PhDUniversity of San FranciscoSchool of NursingSan Francisco, CA

Susan Swider, PhDRush UniversityCollege of Nursing Chicago, IL

Jennifer Ahearn, MBA, Staff LiaisonChief Operating Officer AACN Washington, DC

Susan Gergely, MBA, Staff LiaisonChief Operating OfficerAONEChicago, IL

Nurse Leader 23www.nurseleader.com

workforce in Arizona. These innovative approachesare rich with examples of how developing partner-ships and sustaining relationships based on sharedgoals and fueled by mutual trust result in demonstrat-ed high-level outcomes.

In the afternoon, attendees learned about 3 addi-tional current academic-practice models that includedpresentations from the University of Michigan’sSchool of Nursing and Health System; theBirmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center and theUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham School ofNursing; the University of Wisconsin-Madison Schoolof Nursing, and the Shawano-Menominee CountiesHealth Department.

RESOURCES TO SUPPORT AND BUILDPARTNERSHIP-DEVELOPING ACTION PLANSA primary goal of the 2-day summit was to notonly allow participants to hear about currentlysuccessful models but also to advance their partner-ships or begin new ones. To help provide resourcesto begin this journey, members of the AACN-AONE Academic-Practice Partnerships Task Forceprovided an overview of resources available cur-rently on both the AONE and AACN Web sites,including Guiding Principles for Successful Academic-Practice Partnerships, an interactive toolkit to facili-tate the development, growth, and evaluation ofpartnerships, and an online collaboration communi-ty that provides a forum to share information andresources, learn about innovative partnerships, dis-cuss ways to measure success, connect with poten-tial partners in specific regions, and network withpeers. In addition to these resources, the presenta-tions from this summit are available on the andAACN Web sites at www.aacn.nche.edu.

The group also recevied a newly developed part-nership expectations and outcomes matrix thatallowed them to map out partnership goals, activities,and outcome. Attendees spent the afternoon workingin academic-practice pairs to develop specific strate-gies for their organizations to build, rebuild, orenhance their parntership activities. Each group leftthe summit with a detailed action plan.

BUILDING AND SUSTAININGCOLLABORATIONSThe summit provided the opportunity for dialoguethat was rich and meaningful. Participants engagedwith presenters and members of the steering commit-tee to reinforce the idea that this important workneeds to continue. By continuing to share best prac-

tices, models can be replicated and modified to meetthe specific needs and cultures of other partneringorganizations. Only by continuing this importantwork of building successful academic-practice part-nerships and sharing best practices can we advance thefuture of the profession to change health care in theUnited States.

AACN-AONE Academic-PracticePartnerships Resources

The following resources are available atwww.aacn.nche.edu.• Guiding Principles for Academic-Practice

Partnerships Endorsed by both AACN and AONE, these 8guiding principles will help nursing leaders todevelop collaborative arrangements based oncommon goals, mutual respect, and sharedknowledge.

• Interactive Tool Kit for Developing andSustaining PartnershipsThis tool kit was designed to facilitate thedevelopment, growth, and evaluation of aca-demic-practice partnerships as a fundamentalcondition to advance nursing practice andimprove the quality of care. In addition toexemplars, the resources were created to guidethe user from start to finish in developing apartnership.

• Partnership Expectation and Outcome Matrix• Articles and Presentations• Literature Review on Academic-Practice

PartnershipsThis table contains a detailed summary of theliterature on academic-practice partnershipsfor the past decade.

• Survey on Academic-Practice PartnershipsThis document summarizes the data from thenational survey on partnerships conductedwith deans, chief nurse officers, and directorsof community health/public health agencies.

• Focus Group SessionsFindings from a series of AACN-AONEfocus groups include details on currentpractices, barriers, successful partnerships,and recommendations related to academic-practice partnerships.

24 Nurse Leader August 2013

References1. Institute of Medicine. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change,

Advancing Health. 2010. http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing-Leading-Change-Advancing-Health.aspx.Accessed June 7, 2013.

2. American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Nursing ShortageFact Sheet. 2008. http://www.Ichc.org/research/documents/NrsgShortageFS.pdf. Accessed June 7, 2013.

3. American Association of Colleges of Nursing. 2010. NursingFaculty Shortage. http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/fact-sheets/nursing-faculty-shortage. Accessed June 7, 2013.