The University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s College of Nursing and Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital are being recognized with the 2023 American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Exemplary Academic-Practice Partnership Award. It is one of three academic-practice partnerships that will be acknowledged during the upcoming AACN Academic Nursing Leadership Conference October 28-30 in Washington, DC.
Established in 2016, this innovative partnership enabled advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) at Le Bonheur to transition to full-time faculty roles in the College of Nursing at UTHSC while maintaining full clinical practice. The APRNs who are clinical faculty members maintain a role that is 95% clinical practice and 5% teaching. Forty APRNs at Le Bonheur are on the clinical faculty at the college, and several others serve as volunteer faculty.
“Our vision for this innovative academic-practice partnership stems from our mutual desire to improve clinical outcomes and advance nursing practice and science using an integrated, strategic approach,” said College of Nursing Dean Wendy Likes, PhD, DNSc, APRN-BC, FAANP.
Le Bonheur Director of Advanced Practice Beth Paton, DNP, PNP-AC/PC, CPEN, FAEN, cited many benefits of the partnership.
Read more at our UTHSC news site.