Strategic Plan Update: Preparing Nursing Leaders Who Will Shape the Future
As DUSON begins the strategic plan implementation process, we know that a clear vision is of utmost importance as we, faculty, staff, and students, engage and enroll in the process.
In an effort to provide continuous communication to promote our strategic plan goals, strategies and process, the Monday Update will include feature articles on various aspects of the implementation process.
For the next several weeks, we will feature more about the importance, goals and priority strategies of the six focus areas - Education, Research, Clinical Practice, Community Health Improvement, Global Health and People & Environment.
This week, we highlight Education. The four goals identified for this area are:
- Prepare nursing graduates who will lead the transformation of health care for the future.
- Ensure that Duke's nursing education is accessible to admitted students.
- Lead innovative nursing education nationally and globally.
- Increase the number of nurses in influential leadership positions.
The group identified three priority strategies to focus on for the 2016-2017 academic year:
- Systematically access all programs (existing and proposed) to ensure relevance, quality and sustainability.
- Create an engaging student-centered learning environment.
- Increase scholarship and other funding to offset the cost of tuition.
Let's hear from Executive Sponsor Janice Humphreys on what this all means.
Q: Why are the goals for education so important?
Humphreys: One could argue that education is why the Duke University School of Nursing exists. In a more accurate sense, education is one of our tripartite missions—education, research, and practice. The goals of the School of Nursing reflect this mission and as can be seen, more than half of these goals directly relate to education: to develop academic programs that respond to societal needs for nursing expertise; to provide high quality education as a foundation for lifelong learning and professional careers in nursing and the broader health care enterprise; to develop leaders in research, education, practice, and administration; to lead interdisciplinary research that results in innovative approaches to improving health and illness outcomes; and to provide health care to patients and, in concert with community partners, develop and test innovative models of care.
The first goal for education in our strategic plan is to “Prepare nursing graduates who will lead the transformation of healthcare for the future.” Because the face of education is changing quickly, it is essential to focus on strategies that align with our mission order to maintain high quality, relevant, and sustainable educational programs (Strategy 1.1). Doing so also requires that we establish criteria for making decisions about current and future programs in the School.
The second goal for the education in our strategic plan is to “Ensure that Duke’s nursing education is accessible to admitted students.” If we offer outstanding educational programs, but students cannot afford to attend, our efforts are for naught. In addition, if student debt is reduced, we will be able to continue increase the quality of our incoming students. In so doing, we also reduce student concerns about the cost of their education and enrich the quality of their DUSON experience. To that end, Anita Stallings and her team will be working to increase scholarships and other funding to offset the cost of tuition.
Q: Why were your three priority strategies chosen?
Humphreys: My answer to this also relates to my answer to question #1. In addition, during the process of developing our strategic plan, an array of faculty and staff from all of our programs came together to offer their perspectives and insights on our goals and strategies. With the guidance of our consultants at AMC and using diverse means, we chose to work on the top two strategies for Goal #1 and the top strategy for Goal #2. All three of these strategies were highly rated by the working groups, the Steering Committee, and deemed to have potential for high impact for the School.
Q: What do you and your team hope to accomplish before the end of this calendar year?
Humphreys: In regards to our first goal and strategy number one, by the end of the year, Michael Zychowicz and Marilyn Oermann will lead their team to consensus about the intent of this strategy, will revise the proposed tactics, develop a plan for assessing the educational programs at DUSON, and identify a timeframe for completion.
For strategy number two, Nancy Hill and Jill Brennan-Cook will establish a team, review tactics for their assigned strategy, and determine relevance, overlap, and potential redundancy with other tactics. They will develop measurable criteria for assessing progress on the tactics along with identifying existing initiatives that address their strategy as well as opportunities for enhancement and/or gaps that may exist.
And for strategy three, fund raising is a long-term process. However, Anita Stallings and her team expect to identify 2-5 potential donors. The reality is that this work is ongoing and will occur over the course of several years, not just the current cycle. As to opportunities identified thus far:
- Duke’s Access and Opportunity Challenge will provide matching funds for donors who establish endowed need-based scholarships between $100,000 and $500,000. This program is available to donors who establish new or add to existing endowments for the ABSN program.
- The DUSON DAA office is working with multiple donors to build the first scholarship endowment for the DNP-Anesthesia program. The target for funding is a minimum of $250,000.