The American Association of Colleges of Nursing selected Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Emory Healthcare to receive its 2019 AACN Exemplary Academic-Practice Partnership Award. This annual award recognizes academic-practice partnerships that demonstrate an innovative and sustained relationship extending beyond clinical placements.

The Emory nursing team was recognized for its outcomes related to three specific initiatives:

• The launch of the InEmory Accelerated BSN program aimed to provide a seamless education-to-practice pathway for students wanting to transition from a nationally-ranked nursing program into practice in a Magnet® designated hospital in Atlanta.
• A partnership to open the Emory Integrated Memory Care Clinic (IMCC), the first nurse-led clinic in the nation specializing in primary care for dementia patients and the first nurse-led medical home at Emory Healthcare.
• The formation of a Joint Leadership Council (JLC) in response to a study commissioned by the AACN that examined the potential for enhanced partnership between academic nursing and academic health centers around the imperative to advance integrated systems of health care, achieve improved health outcomes and foster new models for innovation.

“The creation of cross-disciplinary initiatives, workgroups and best practices have allowed our teams to think and be challenged in new ways. It’s led us to experience unprecedented collaboration of core leadership from both NHWSN and EHC, who now meet quarterly and discuss key initiatives,” says Linda McCauley, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAAOHN, dean of the nursing school. “These initiatives, which are in varying stages of development, reflect a shared vision – the creation of a clinically competent and intellectually curious workforce of nurse leaders. It is this vision which may directly alleviate the growing nursing shortage.”

“We take an innovative approach with the JLC to afford us the greatest ability to impact people and communities beyond the academic and practice settings,” adds Sharon Pappas, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, Chief Nurse Executive for EHC. “Being acknowledged by the AACN for this joint academic-practice partnership is confirmation that while calls-to-action may start at the top, involvement extends across organizational levels at both institutions.”

Award recipients were acknowledged during the 2019 AACN Academic Nursing Leadership Conference on Oct. 21 in Washington, D.C. McCauley and Pappas accepted the award on behalf of the Emory partnership.