Amidst surges in variants and outbreaks, faculty administrators, staff, students, as well as health care agencies, adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic as they faced rapidly changing care protocols, including testing and vaccination guidelines. They demonstrated their adaptability and resilience during unprecedented times. Educators confronted multiple challenges as they adjusted their teaching approaches while ensuring students were adequately prepared to enter the workforce as competent and safe nurses. In addition, faculty needed to guarantee that courses, curricula, and programs continued to deliver quality education while meeting standards of excellence.
One way of demonstrating nursing education excellence is through programmatic accreditation from nursing accreditors. Obtaining accreditation enables programs to meet eligibility requirements for federal funding and allows students to gain employment, advance their careers through further education, and pursue other career opportunities.
The past year has been a time of change and growth for the National League for Nursing Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation (NLN CNEA), an autonomous NLN division that provides accreditation for nursing education programs across the educational spectrum. In May 2021, NLN CNEA received notification of its official recognition by the US Department of Education (DOE). Programmatic accreditation was granted for five full years, the maximum time possible.
WHY RECOGNITION IS IMPORTANT
Official recognition by the US DOE involves an external peer review process that provides validation that quality and rigor are applied to the accreditation process. National recognition by a federal agency guarantees that accreditors, such as NLN CNEA, serve as a reliable authority of quality education provided by higher education institutions (US DOE, 2022).
Recognition of NLN CNEA by the US DOE now provides program an accreditation agency option. Previously, nursing programs offered at the LPN/LVN, associate degree, or diploma levels did not have a choice in accreditors. Now schools can select the accreditor that best meets their needs and aligns with their mission, beliefs, and philosophy. Nursing education programs seeking NLN CNEA recognition undergo a rigorous peer review process that emphasizes continuous quality improvement while adhering to the values of caring, integrity, excellence, and diversity and inclusion. Programs seeking accreditation need to demonstrate compliance with standards of accreditation that focus on program outcomes; mission, governance, and resources; faculty; students; and curriculum and evaluation processes. To date, more than 140 programs have undergone NLN CNEA accreditation review through a process that promotes quality and excellence in nursing education.
MOVING AHEAD
Our receiving this accolade does not end our work. We also engage in our own continuous quality improvement processes to examine accreditation activities. During the past year, NLN CNEA staff and volunteers have undertaken important initiatives that promote excellence and advance accreditation activities.
One important change is an update to NLN CNEA standards. Most accreditors regularly review and update their standards to ensure they are current and relevant. Because our standards of accreditation were initially published in 2016, we took a closer look to ensure that our standards met critical issues in nursing education. After a year of review, input, and editing, updated standards were released in late 2021 (https://cnea.nln.org/resources). Their overall focus remains the same; however, there is now a more prominent emphasis on important issues such as diversity, equity, inclusion, social determinants of health, health equity, and population health. These revised standards will also help ensure that preceptors who work with students and course content prepare students and graduates to confront the issues they will encounter in practice. Compliance with NLN CNEA standards will require nurse educators to address these issues in their programs.
The changes to NLN CNEA standards support national initiatives focused on diversity and inclusion. They also support the recommendations of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2021) report, The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. To ensure health equity, the nursing curriculum, including classroom and other experiential learning activities, should provide opportunities to address critical issues such as social determinants of health and population health concerns.
Other activities for NLN CNEA have been ongoing. A committee has been examining operational policies and procedures and will share revised materials with constituents for public comment. Work is also ongoing to make electronic reporting of data to NLN CNEA user friendly.
It is important to know that staff are available to answer questions and clarify information for nursing programs seeking NLN CNEA accreditation throughout the entire process, including the preaccreditation and initial accreditation processes. Updated NLN CNEA workshops and webinars provide other forms of support and valuable training for faculty and administrators. Presentations have focused on developing a systematic evaluation plan, writing a self-study report, preparing for an accreditation site visit, and reviewing the updated accreditation standards. Programs are offered in interactive video format to allow easy access, and some sessions are recorded for viewing convenience.
SITE VISITORS ARE NEEDED
As NLN CNEA grows, the need for site visitors and team leaders will also increase. Training of site visitors and team leaders to ensure an adequate cadre of qualified peers who are prepared to engage in site visit activities is underway. Training sessions related to site visitor activities have already taken place, and future sessions are planned. Faculty and nurses involved in professional nursing practice may submit applications to be considered for future training. Volunteers representing all levels of nursing education are needed. Individuals who have expertise in assessment and evaluation activities, communicate clearly orally and in written formats, and have a desire to ensure quality in nursing education are encouraged to apply. Visit https://cnea.nln.org for more information.
Exciting times lie ahead as NLN CNEA works to meet the needs of nursing education while ensuring program quality. Many faculty would never have dreamed of delivering course content or clinical skills training and practice through interactive video or offering clinical experiences with virtual simulation. Still, educators have proven resourceful, dedicated, creative, and supportive of students during the challenging times over the past few years. Hopefully, faculty are gathering data to determine what works best and what does not, so this can inform future educational practices. This data collection can guide the assessment and evaluation processes necessary for continuous quality improvement and accreditation and help continue to advance nursing education excellence.
REFERENCES