Maryland Action Coalition: Academic Progression Takes Several Pathways.

AIM: The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the Maryland Action Coalition academic progression activities. BACKGROUND: Maryland is predicted to be one of four states that will experience a shortage of 10,000 or more registered nurses in 2025. The Maryland Action Coalition has committed to the Institute of Medicine's Future of Nursing recommendation that 80 percent of nurses be educated at the baccalaureate (or higher) level. METHOD: Various approaches to seamless academic progression are described. The Maryland articulation model was revised to reflect new academic models. RESULTS: More BS and BSN degrees have been awarded, and more employers have advertised a preference for RNs who have completed a baccalaureate degree. CONCLUSION: Maryland is developing a solid foundation to ensure that the state has a well-educated nursing workforce to meet the complex health needs of all residents.

Predictors of registered nurses' willingness to remain in nursing.

A major question about the adequacy of the future supply of nurses is how many will stay in the profession. The relationship between scheduling and propensity to stay or leave the nursing profession was examined in this study. This analysis suggests there are definite characteristics of the work schedules that can influence a nurse's inclination to stay or leave the profession. This is not simply a question of "overwork," but of matching work schedules and hours as closely as possible to employee expectations. This suggests management needs to find a way to pay attention when nurses request changes in hours. The mere fact of changing schedules will not solve the nursing shortage, but it is one action within the management control of any organization employing nurses that could have a positive effect on retention.

The STTI Practice-Academe Innovative Collaboration Award: honoring innovation, partnership, and excellence.

PURPOSE: To describe the benefits and barriers associated with practice-academe partnerships and introduce Sigma Theta Tau International's (STTI's) Practice-Academe Innovative Collaboration Award and the 2009 award recipients. DESIGN AND METHODS: In 2008, STTI created the CNO-Dean Advisory Council and charged it with reviewing the state of practice-academe collaborations and developing strategies for optimizing how chief nursing officers (CNOs) and deans work together to advance the profession and discipline of nursing. The Council, in turn, developed the Practice-Academe Innovative Collaboration Award to encourage collaboration across sectors, recognize innovative collaborative efforts, and spotlight best practices. A call for award submissions resulted in 24 applications from around the globe. FINDINGS: An award winner and seven initiatives receiving honorable mentions were selected. The winning initiatives reflect innovative academe-service partnerships that advance evidence-based practice, nursing education, nursing research, and patient care. The proposals were distinguished by their collaborators' shared vision and unity of purpose, ability to leverage strengths and resources, and willingness to recognize opportunities and take risks. CONCLUSIONS: By partnering with one another, nurses in academe and in service settings can directly impact nursing education and practice, often effecting changes and achieving outcomes that are more extensive and powerful than could be achieved by working alone. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The award-winning initiatives represent best practices for bridging the practice-academe divide and can serve as guides for nurse leaders in both settings.

Maine's nursing workforce legislation: lessons from a rural state.

As the aging baby boom generation begins to place additional pressures on the health care system and the nursing workforce of the same generation begins to retire, the worsening nursing shortage has the potential to seriously impact the delivery of health care in the United States and is receiving considerable attention nationwide. Although federal initiatives such as the Nurse Reinvestment Act are critical, issues of supply and demand for registered nurses must also be addressed at the state level. In Maine, nursing leadership has partnered with state policy makers and health care industry leaders in a multi-year initiative that has included the nursing community's envisioning its "preferred future," formal data collection on the nursing workforce, ongoing education of the Maine State Legislature about the nursing shortage, and legislative initiatives.

Succession planning: when an academic merger occurs.

Optimal positioning of nursing in an interdisciplinary college calls for an expanded concept of succession planning that includes broad-gauged organizational and staff development strategies. The process requires time, openness to incremental change, effective leadership within the academic unit, and a well-thought-through faculty committee structure and budgetary authority. At the University of Southern Maine College of Nursing and Health Professions, succession planning has led to structural and budgetary changes and has required a flexible process, responsive to larger university priorities and fiscal challenges, that is shaped by a vision for the future of the college and of nursing.

Infusion nurses' role in care at the end of life.

End-of-life care has received focused attention over the past two decades in the United States. Although end-of-life care has greatly improved, considerable work remains to ensure that all Americans who are dying receive high-quality care. This important work cannot be delegated to one specialty area, but is the responsibility of all specialty nurses interacting with individuals who have life-limiting illnesses. Infusion nurses, in particular, are encouraged to commit themselves to ensuring the provision of high-quality end-of-life nursing care.

Building social capital: leading and leveraging constituencies outside the college.

Building social capital for a college and discipline requires actively engaging in the work of the university and creating partnerships with stakeholders outside the university, who share common areas of interest. As a public university dean for the past 5 years, I have found this work demands a considerable investment of time, energy, and stamina to maintain the vision of ultimate success. This article discusses three lessons I have learned in this journey as a new dean: serving as dean involves more than your college; a dean must actively engage in the work of the university as a whole and advocate for other colleges within the university; and a dean must take time to engage stakeholders outside the university.