School of Nursing: Connections

From the Deans Desk

Nancy Fugate Woods, Ph.D., F.A.A.N., Dean and Professor

The Pew Commission, a multidisciplinary group convened to look at the future of health care, recently released its comprehensive report, Recreating Health Professional Practice for the New Century. In this analysis, which describes current trends in health care and professional practice and makes recommendations for the future, twenty-one essential competencies are identified for the 21st century. As I read over this list, I was struck by how well it aligned with our program objectives here in the School. Most striking of them all was the last item on the list – continuing to learn and helping others to learn. This goes to the heart of our mission here at the School of Nursing, not only for our students but for our staff and faculty as well.

The Pew Commission reminds us that "the knowledge, competencies and values for a successful lifetime of practice cannot be learned in the limited duration of a formal education program." It suggests the necessity of a "career-long commitment to continuous learning." At the very least, the rapid change in knowledge about health and health care delivery makes career-long learning an imperative. This imperative is also reflected in other recommendations from the Pew Commission, including:

providing evidence-based, clinically competent care
incorporating the multiple determinants of health in clinical care
applying knowledge of the new sciences (such as genetics, molecular biology, and psychoneuroimmunology)
providing culturally-sensitive care to a diverse society
using communication and information technology effectively
practicing leadership, and
contributing to the continuous improvement of the health care system.

Pursuing any of these recommendations over the course of a career would require significant self-directed learning as well as study at degree-granting academic programs. The nature of nursing has become increasingly complex with the growing diversity of society, and current trends promise even more challenges for the future. Scientific discoveries are continuously altering health care technology. The acuity of illness among hospitalized patients and those in home care and long-term care settings is escalating, with greater demands for care and fewer resources available to support professional practice.

At the University of Washington School of Nursing, much consideration is being given to the ways we can best support nurses across their career trajectories. We have an opportunity to commit ourselves to an agenda of lifelong learning for nurses in practice. Beginning with our undergraduate programs, we can construct learning situations that will prepare new nurses for complex workplace realities; for example, by exposure to informatics, by providing opportunities to work with clients from diverse communities, and by including studies in the new biology. We can respond to the increasing need for leadership training for practicing nurses and support continuing nursing education that sustains clinical expertise; for example in changing outpatient care settings as well as in critical care. We can respond to the increasing need for leadership training for practicing nurses and support continuing education that sustains clinical expertise—in changing outpatient care settings as well as in critical care. One example is through preparing nursing students for case management and management of population-based health services. We can offer preparation for advanced practice, including programs in primary care, acute care, genetics counseling, home care, geropsychiatry, and family and child health specialties. Our research agendas and research training for doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars can incorporate questions that provide answers significant to nursing practice. Conducting outcome studies that define the best research evidence for nursing practice and testing the effectiveness of alternative care models can strengthen nurses’ capacity to practice in the new era. Finally, our research can illuminate which aspects of the workplace support expert caring as the clinical core of professional practice.

Looking ahead to the challenges of both the next decade and the next century, the School of Nursing is forging a strategic plan dedicated to supplying both the tools and the motivation for lifelong learning, a pursuit which goes to the very core of nursing.