A Path to Nursing Excellence

This book, written by the Dean Emeritus of Columbia School of Nursing, follows the evolution of Advanced Practice Nursing as a successful and well-respected model of independent nursing practice. It describes a dramatic period of 25 years during which the author rescued a failing school of nursing at Columbia University and led it through a period of struggle that, through strong and carefully constructed planning, led Advanced Practice Nursing to a new level of authority and education. It depicts Columbia's leadership in establishing CAPNA, a financially successful independent nursing practice, and uses the case study of Columbia School of Nursing to illustrate how nursing leadership used leverage and political acumen to bring together disparate and unusual partners to support its mission to restructure the APN model.

Divided into six sections, the book describes how the innovations transpired during five-year periods and provides, in the final section, an action plan for those who would like to develop the same level of practice in a school or individually. Chapters address why the seminal achievement occurred, exactly what took place, the cultural and practice environment in which change occurred, strategies used and resistance overcome, and solutions that emerged as a result of the final achievement. The text, with its professional and financial model, will be of value to nurse educators who wish to invigorate their programs, DNP graduates who seek to develop their practices, medical educators, business education professionals, and health reformers.

Key Features:

Portrays a passionate 25-year struggle towards the achievement of advanced practice nursing authority and autonomy
Shares a successful model of independent nursing practice
Offers guidelines on how to train faculty for their role in providing necessary clinical education in NP and DNP programmes
Provides a blueprint for schools of nursing attempting to develop strong DNP programs and initiate an independent faculty nursing practice
Written by the Dean Emeritus of Columbia School of Nursing