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2010 Plan

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Our College of Nursing has recently undertaken a long-term strategic planning process in response to the constantly evolving health care environment and our desire to design the best approach for meeting the educational needs for nurses of the future. As the faculty considered the role our college should play as we strive to achieve our mission To Prepare Nurse Leaders for Excellence Today and Tomorrow, we did so in the context of changes occurring across health care, throughout nursing practice and education, within and around our community, and within our university.

Clearly today’s health care environment is much more complex than it was when many of us first became nurses, and the knowledge and critical thinking skills demanded of nurses in this environment continues to escalate. It was in recognition of these demands that the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) issued two position statements calling for a dramatic realignment of nursing education. The first call was for creation of a new master’s degree program, the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL). This degree program will prepare nurses for practice as a generalist with additional preparation in coordinating and improving the quality of care at the micro system level. The second AACN position statement called for the transition of all advanced practice nursing programs (APN's) to the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) by 2015.

The history of our college is such that we have always been on the leading edge of change, and today is no different. We were one of the earliest schools to move nursing education into the university, to offer nurse practitioner education, to have an active faculty practice, and to offer a practice doctorate. As a nationally recognized “change agent school” our faculty chose to continue the tradition of offering cutting-edge programs begun by our predecessors, and to focus on the preparation of nurse leaders to improve the quality of care being delivered in our health care systems.

As we considered the future of health care and trends in nursing practice and education, we did so with the knowledge that we would be facing progressively declining external support of our programs. We therefore sought a plan that would continue our role as a pacesetter, maintained the strong programs for which we have become known, and did so in an efficient cost-effective manner that takes advantage of our location on an academic health science center. The long-term plan designed by our faculty will therefore have us meeting the AACN 2015 mandate by 2010, and doing so with strong and efficient state-of-the-art programs.

The main features of our educational program plan are summarized below and outline the three degree programs we will be offering by 2010:

1. We remain committed to entry-level preparation of nurses and will transition our baccalaureate entry program to the master's level for individuals who want to become nurses to acquire the education needed for entering the profession.
2. The advanced practice nursing programs that we currently have at the masters' level will transition to the doctoral level as part of our nationally recognized Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program.

Our PhD program which prepares nurses for careers as research scientists will remain in place with new opportunities for partnerships with DNP students and graduates.

It is truly an exciting time for nursing and nursing education and a pivotal moment in the history of our profession. We all recognize that today’s health care system and the care nurses are able to provide in this environment is not what we would like it to be. As we look toward the future it is with an eye toward those who are following behind us and the legacy we want to leave for them. We believe the place to start changing the health care system is with the education of tomorrow’s nurses who will be leading us through these changes.

This site will provide a graphical depiction of our 2010 plan, some frequently asked questions about the plan, links to additional information about the CNL and DNP, and a place for you to provide your comments. There will also be discussion at this year’s Alumni Day on Friday, April 21. Dr. Polly Bednash, Executive Director of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing will be speaking about the future of nursing and providing reaction to our 2010 plan.

We are enthusiastically looking forward to the next several years as we work toward making the 2010 plan a reality and living up to the UTHSC College of Nursing’s historical position as a pacesetter in education of nurses. Our vision for the future is in keeping with our mission to Prepare Nurse Leaders for Excellence Today and Tomorrow.