Important

Return to table of contentsing are the general core standards for accreditation thatNLNAC requires:• Mission and governance are clearly stated andappropriate.• Faculty is qualified and credentialed.• School is nondiscriminatory, and students have accessto support services.• Curriculum and instruction accomplish their educationalpurposes.• Resources (e.g., financial, physical space, equipmentand faculty) are sufficient for the program to providecomprehensive and current education.• Integrity is evident (among other things, this meansthe program represents itself clearly and honestly withstudents, employers of alumni, student loan programs,the public and others).• Institution has a well-identified plan for the evaluationof its students.The accreditation manual also lists as a reference theAACN’s 1996 Essentials, which is described in detail inthe section below. The NLNAC manual does not, however,specify essential courses or the number of didacticor clinical hours it requires for an NP program. Further,NLNAC has also endorsed both the 1997 and 2002versions of the second-edition Criteria documentdescribed above, but does not demand adherence. 106Thus, conceivably, an NP program that did not includethe Criteria’s minimum clinical hours requirements maystill earn NLNAC accreditation.Competencies required for accreditationThe AACN’s 1996 Essentials document, cited by bothCCNE and NLNAC as a reference, was created withinput from 217 nursing schools and 44 state boards ofnursing. This document sets forth curriculum recommendationsfor a master’s degree in nursing based onthree core areas of study: the graduate nursing core,advanced practice nursing core and specialty curriculumcontent core. The Essentials document delineatesthe skills and knowledge a graduate of an advancedpractice nursing program should possess, as well as thecourse content that will prepare an APN for eventualpractice. The AACN’s 1996 Essentials requirementsfor master’s-level APN programs are widely accepted asthe core elements of both CCNE’s and NLNAC’s curriculumaccreditation standards for such programs. Theparticular recommendations for each of the three corecurricular areas of study in master’s-level APN programsare discussed below.AACN’s 1996 Essentials recommendations formaster’s-level APN core curriculumFirst, the graduate core, which applies to all master’sdegrees in nursing, emphasizes critical thinking anddecision-making skills. Areas of study within the graduatecore are:• Research—finding, applying and communicatingrelevant material; note that the AACN’s 1996Essentials states that a research thesis is not appropriatefor a professional master’s degree 107• Health care policy, organization and financing—issues in public health, health care policy, health caredelivery systems and the economics of health care,including how to run a practice; also considered significantin graduate nursing education is articulatingissues and trends to legislators, consumers and governmentofficials• Ethics—ethical issues involved in patient care andpractice management; dynamics and mechanismsof ethical decision-making regarding patient care;evaluation of personal conflicts of interest• Professional role development—developing skills forworking in collaborative and interdependent practiceswith other health professionals and advocatingfor patients and the nursing profession• Theoretical foundations of nursing practice—theoreticalissues related to the “natural, social, organizationaland biological sciences”• Human diversity and social issues—sociologicalperspectives to prepare students to work with populationsof varying epidemiology, cultural norms andpathophysiology• Health promotion and disease prevention 108106. AACN letter from Geraldine Bednash, executive director of AACN, to Kathy Apple, executive director of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.Dated January 17, 2006. Regarding NCSBN’s Draft Vision Paper. www.aacn.nche.edu/education/pdf/ncsbnresps/NCSBNLetter1-17-06.pdf. RetrievedApril 1, 2008.107. Web. AACN. The Essentials of Master’s Education for Advanced Practice Nursing (1996), p.7. www.aacn.nche.edu/education/mastessn.htm.Retrieved April 1, 2008.108. Id. p. 6–12.Scope of Practice Data Series: Nurse practitioners • V. Education and training of NPs23