Mapping the Accreditation Process for Nursing Education

1. Mapping the Accreditation Process for Nursing Education Dr. Claudette V. Gordon, EdD, MS, RN Assistant Professor City University of New York (CUNY) at Bronx Community College Jamaica Diaspora Conference Toronto, Canada July 9 – 12, 2014

2. What is Accreditation? • Accreditation is a voluntary, self-regulatory process which • Provides verification to stakeholders (students/employers/patients) that educational programs are in compliance with established standards and criteria for educational quality and professional licensing. • Evaluates acquisition of established competencies, learning /program outcomes in nursing education/ nursing practice. • Promotes global affiliations: challenge educational institutions to meet criteria for global program expansion. • Encourages evidence-based practices that support nursing education, nursing practice, and care delivery.

3. Purpose of Accreditation Achieving Accreditation • Legitimizeslocal/international impact for nursing education programs. • Encourages on-going compliance through quality improvement activities, periodic self evaluation/peer review. • Promotes educational equity, access, and mobility through the functions of the accreditation process. • Substantiates need for adherence to an accreditation model and related services for local (& international) nursing education programs.

4. Benefits of Accreditation Nursing Education Programs benefit from • Alignment of accreditation criteria with program policies/curriculum standards for nursing education • Preparation of Self-Study Report: • Aligns accreditation criteria with student learning outcomes/program outcomes • Quantifies cost of program implementation/maintenance • Evaluates program efficiency/portability/sustainability • Provides basis for evaluation of standards of practice/ need for quality improvement

5. Benefits of Accreditation (2) Accreditation • Demonstrates that local nursing programs adhere to • Accepted standards and criteria for nursing education (See ACEN & ICN). • Best evidence-based practices for nursing education. • Provides basis for • admission/retention of candidates in academia & practice • development of innovative teaching strategies /programs) • programs that attract international students

6. Eligibility Criteria for all Nursing Programs A nursing program is accredited with • Placement within a governing organization that is authorized to grant the credential - awarded at completion of the program. • Placement within a governing organization that is accredited by an approved accrediting agency Or • Holds unconditional approval by the appropriate regulatory agency that has legal authority for nursing education programs (ACEN (2013) Accreditation Manual, Policy #3).

7. Eligibility Criteria for all Nursing Programs (2) • English Proficiency: • Program faculty and students must speak and understand English proficiently. • Program must produce all documents and written materials which are required for the accreditation processes in English. • All fiscal documents must be in English with currency equivalents in U.S. dollars. (ACEN (2013) Accreditation Manual, Policy #3).

8. The Review Process • Candidacy Presentations • reviewed by two (2) professional staff members to establish whether the nursing education unit has demonstrated compliance with the selected ACEN Standards and Criteria. • Each reviewer will independently recommend: Candidacy, Deferral, or Disapproval. • Candidacy • program will need to complete the Candidacy process within two (2) years. • Completion of the process includes writing the complete Self-Study Report and scheduling a site visit.

9. The Review Process (2) • Deferral • program will have the opportunity to resubmit the Candidacy Presentation within one (1) year. Failure to resubmit within a year will require the program to restart the process. • Disapproval • program was not able to demonstrate the ability for compliance with two (2) Candidacy Presentations. The program will be required to restart the Candidacy Process (ACEN (2013) Accreditation Manual, Policy #3).

10. International Processes & Procedures International Nursing education units (outside the U.S.) considering accreditation by ACEN should: • Contact ACEN to begin the process • Review current syllabi • Ensure that current syllabi are congruent with ACEN standards/criteria (ACEN (2013) Accreditation Manual, Policy #3).

11. Complete and submit the International Candidacy Application : • to determine eligibility for International Candidacy Status. • Submit the International Candidacy Application Fee: • Application must be accompanied by an application fee of $5,000 ($2,500 of which is refunded if the program is determined not to be eligible for accreditation by ACEN). (ACEN (2013) Accreditation Manual, Policy #3).

12. International Processes/Procedures (2) • ACEN professional staff determine a program’s eligibility and suitability for ACEN accreditation • Review of the application may include information indicating that a program is: • eligible to pursue International Candidacy Status. • required to submit additional formation/clarification OR that a program • is deemed ineligible to pursue International Candidacy Status and will be withdrawn from the process.

13. Mapping the Process for Nursing Schools

14. Questions?? Thank you for your attention

15. References • Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (2013). ACEN Accreditation Manual: Supplement for International Programs Retrieved fromwww.acenursing.org • Institute of Medicine (2010). The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.