Impact of a Structured Transition to Practice Program for Nurse Leaders.

Aligning Healthcare Safety and Quality Competencies: Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN), The Joint Commission, and American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet® Standards Crosswalk

Anne M. McNamara, PhD, RN

Robyn Begley, DNP, RN, NEA-BC

The rapid increase in the scope and quality of knowledge in the health care field requires continuing education for nurses, especially nurse leaders. A survey was conducted among 296 nurse leaders from 15 hospitals, accounting for 87% of all hospital nurses in Slovenia. The survey showed that participation in continuing education was lowest among younger nurse leaders, those with lower leadership positions, and those employed at medium-sized general hospitals and specialized (nonpsychiatric) hospitals. The total number of continuing education hours did not affect self-assessment of knowledge among nurse leaders. Slovenia's experiences in this area indicate that greater attention must be paid to an equal distribution of continuing education programs among the various groups of nurse leaders. Additionally, it is important to monitor the quality of program implementation.

The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) is a globally recognized leader in credentialing and accreditation. Among its cornerstone programs are the ANCC Nursing Continuing Professional Development Accreditation Program, the ANCC Practice Transition Accreditation Program®, and the ANCC Advanced Practice Provider Fellowship AccreditationTM program. The ANCC additionally holds a pivotal role as a founding member in Joint AccreditationTM, an interprofessional continuing education accreditation for health professionals. As health care evolves, the ANCC remains at the forefront, advancing nursing practice, fostering innovation, and providing support and education to stakeholders. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2025;56(1):5-7.].

The Nurse Leader Fellowship, a transition-to-practice program for nurse leaders accredited with distinction by the American Nurses Credentialing Center® Practice Transition Accreditation Program®, has successfully provided support and development to more than 200 nursing directors, managers, and supervisors during their transition to a new role and/or into the organization. The fellowship provides an organization-wide program for nurse leaders to develop core competencies that support their emerging roles through orientation, ongoing development, and networking. Program outcomes demonstrate its value to nurse leaders and to the organization.

Affirming Nurses' value

Meaningful recognition: An imperative for nurse manager well-being.

The American Nurses Credentialing Center's (ANCC's) Practice Transition Accreditation Program (PTAP) establishes standards for nurse residency programs to elevate and optimize the skills, knowledge, and attitudes of new nurses participating in nurse residency programs. Evidence-based practice (EBP) is foundational to providing safe nursing care. One of the National Academy of Medicine's (NAM's) 2020 goals stated that 90% of clinical decisions would be supported by the best available evidence to attain the best patient outcomes. Nurse residency programs can benefit from evidence-based strategies to develop EBP competencies in new nurses. The purpose of this scoping review was to synthesize the literature around strategies for incorporating EBP into nurse residency programs across the United States. This scoping review was informed by the JBI (formerly known as the Joanna Briggs Institute) methodology for scoping reviews. Searches were conducted by a health science librarian in PubMed and CINAHL with Full Text. Keywords and their synonyms, Medical Subject Headings (MeSH; PubMed), and Subject Headings (CINAHL with Full Text) were used. Covidence, a literature review management program, was used to organize the literature and manage the review. Title, abstract, and full-text reviews were completed within Covidence using three teams of two independent reviewers. Four hundred and thirty-eight citations were imported into Covidence. Ten articles were retained for the final review. Three strategies for incorporating EBP into nurse residency programs emerged from the literature: (1) exposure of nurse residents to existing organizational resources, (2) completion of online EBP modules, and (3) completion of an EBP project. The incorporation of EBP competencies in nurse residency programs aligns with NAM's and ANCC's goals, yet a paucity of evidence exists to guide curriculum development in nurse residency programs. This scoping review corroborates the need for further research to inform best practices for implementing EBP into nurse residency programs.

Letter to the Editor

Doctoral degrees in nursing fall into two categories. The first is the researchfocused doctorate, the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or Doctor of Nursing Science (DNSc or DNS); and the second is the practice doctorate or Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). Nurses who graduate from research-focused doctoral programs are or should be prepared to generate new evidence for the profession. Nurses who graduate from the practice-focused doctorate are or should be prepared to be experts in advanced nursing practice and leaders in applying the best evidence to improve nursing practice, whether it be clinical, academic, or administrative. The authors should indicate our bias upfront. We believe that the DNP degree is meant to prepare leaders to improve practice and thus the focus of the degree should be on implementing practice change that improves outcomes for patients, nurses, and/ or students. Thus there should be a strong evidence-based practice (EBP) component in the curriculum, and the capstone in these programs should be on evidence synthesis and/or practice improvement projects (which can also be administrative or educational in nature), not research. The DNP degree has continued to blossom since the American Association of the Colleges of Nursing (AACN) released their Position statement on the Practice Doctorate in Nursing in 2004. There are currently 153 DNP programs in the United States with an additional 160 nursing schools planning similar programs (AACN, 2011). Existing DNP programs follow either a clinical, educational, or administrative track to prepare leaders in each of these areas. All DNP programs are expected to include in their curriculum the seven Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Practice Nurses developed by the AACN (2006). Included in the Essentials is the edict that DNP graduates be able to . . . demonstrate refined assessment skills and base practice on the application of biophysical, psychosocial, behavioral, sociopolitical, cultural, economic, and nursing science as appropriate in their area of specialization (AACN, 2006, p. 16). The DNP degree was conceived as an educational program to prepare graduates to be experts and leaders in evidence-based practice. The DNP clinician is ideally prepared to improve healthcare outcomes by facilitating the translation of current, best evidence into clinical practice. The DNP is proposed by AACN as the terminal degree for advanced practice nurses. DNP graduates may continue to work in the same practice environments with other nurses with different educational levels as well as other health care disciplines. Many organizations are still trying to determine how to utilize the DNP graduate within their practice environments. With pending health care reform, the threat of reduced reimbursement for poor outcomes, and the ongoing shortage of primary care providers, it is crucial for current best evidence to be quickly translated into clinical practice to improve outcomes for the patients and communities we serve. In addition, many healthcare organizations are applying for Magnet status, a recognition program developed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for high-quality nursing care. Magnet hospitals must demonstrate their contribution to generating knowledge, innovations, and improvements for the professions through the translation and application of existing evidence and by identifying areas where new research is needed (ANCC, 2011). Despite the Institute of Medicine's (2011) challenge for nursing to reconceptualize the role of nurses while developing innovative solutions to care delivery, many barriers to full implementation of evidence-based practice still exist. Nurses continually report lack of time as the most common barrier to applying evidencebased practice approaches to clinical practice (Bertulis, 2008; Brown, Wickline, Ecoff, & Glaser, 2009; Pravikoff, Tanner, & Pierce, 2005). Other barriers that have been reported include the difficulty accessing resources, poor computer skills, poor understanding of statistics and research technique, inadequate preparation to critically appraise research, lack of support from administration and other staff, and a disbelief that evidence-based practice can improve outcomes (Bertulis, 2008; Brown et al. …

A safe work environment is a prerequisite for the provision of high-quality patient care. Horizontal violence can undermine the culture of safety and the well-being of the nurses in the work unit. Charge nurses, whose role encompasses both staff and manager responsibilities, play an important role in team building and care delivery. Yet, little is known about their experience with horizontal violence. A lack of adequate leadership education and role delineation may predispose charge nurses to horizontal violence. A descriptive study was conducted to describe the incidence of horizontal violence of charge nurses. The Horizontal Violence Scale was used to collect data from a convenience sample of 366 charge nurses. Charge nurses reported experiencing horizontal violence with some regularity. Nurse leaders must critically evaluate the work culture and provide appropriate education and support to charge nurses to combat horizontal violence. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2016;47(11):493-499.

AONL Nurse Leader Competencies: Core Competencies for Nurse Leadership

The Nurse Leader’s Role:: A Conduit for Professional Identity Formation and Sustainability

Continuous Professional Development in Perioperative Nursing.