12: REFLECTIVE RESPONSE ■ 295and vice presidents of nursing. These hallmarks include: shared vision, goals, and re-
sources; commitment to excellence and open communication; trust and respect; and
mutual problem solving, to name just a few. Participants unanimously agreed that a
successful partnership is framed by a strong personal as well as professional relation-
ship that starts at the top and infiltrates the organizations (Beal et al., 2011).
The AACN has continued to focus on the need for and benefits of academic– service
partnerships. In the recently published Futures Task Force Final Report to the AACN
Board of Directors (AACN, 2015), AACN outlined four recommendations “regarding
potential new efforts that can be implemented to support the mission of the organiza-
tion and assure support for the development of a nursing workforce for the future.”
Two of the four recommendations speak directly to the importance of academic- practice
partnerships in not only realizing overarching goal of AACN to be “the catalyst for inno-
vation in nursing education that will improve health and health care (AACN, 2015) but
also to reach the goals set forth by the IOM in 2010. Furthermore, in 2016, the AACN
published a report commissioned to “examine the potential for enhanced partnership
between academic nursing and academic health centers (AHCs) around the impera-
tive to advance integrated systems of health care, achieve improved health outcomes,
and foster new models for innovation” (AACN, 2016). Although intended originally as
a guide for deans and CNO s in AHCs, the report has important implications equally
for deans and CNOs who do not lead in AHCs. Six recommendations are posed and
include:
- Adopt the following vision: Academic nursing is a full partner in health care
delivery, education, and research that is integrated and funded across all pro-
fessions and missions in the AHC system - Implement initiatives that more fully bring nursing faculty into the clinical
practice of the health system and connect the clinical service more closely to
the academic mission of the school of nursing - Partner in preparing the nurses of the future by building a pipeline of nurses
at multiple levels and creating nursing leadership development programs for
faculty and practicing nurses that are jointly managed by the school of nurs-
ing and clinical practice - Partner in the implementation of an accountable care
- Invest in nursing research programs and better integrate research into a clini-
cal practice - Implement an advocacy agenda in support of a new era for academic nurs-
ing, which encompasses the integration of practice, education, and research
(AACN, 2016)
How many times did you count the word partner in this charge? The message is
loud and clear! Finally, the AACN and AONE leadership and representatives met in
April of 2016 to share a vision and goals for a preferred partnership between the two
organizations that would start at the national level and infiltrate all of the academia
and practice. In my mind, this represents a full circle back to 2010 when the national
dialogue began and demonstrates an even stronger commitment to the future of our
profession. Truly, we are partners, leveraging our strengths to build a strong future. As
increasingly large numbers of DNP students graduate and assume leadership roles in
not only practice but also academia, we continue to embrace the role and confirm that
nursing is first and foremost, like our medicine colleagues, a practice discipline. Like
the authors, we at Simmons have had a long and rich partnership with the Boston-
Bedford Veterans Administration (VA) hospital system. A member of NERVANA, the
New England Regional Nursing Alliance, Simmons along with five other Boston- based