Bruin Brief 2022-06-24: Onward after the AACN Essentials Retreat

Owned by Cynthia James
Last updated: Jul 01, 2022
4 min read

The SON Bruin Brief

From Academic Affairs
June 24th 2022

Thank you, faculty and staff, for attending the AACN Essentials Retreat last week. Dr. Gerry Altmiller helped us all consider how our End of Program Outcomes (EPO) can be updated to align with the AACN Essentials.  Using those EPOs specific to the BS, MECN, MSN-APRN, and DNP programs we can work backwards to map our curriculum and assure that the competencies and sub-competencies at Level I and II build across courses to achieve competent nurses.  Our job is to see how the courses we are assigned to teach manifest those sub-competencies through in-class exercises, assessment activities, and competency-based evaluations.

 Wrapping up the Retreat:  Take-Away Messages for Attendees

1. Complete the Retreat Evaluation if you want CEUs for attendance. Please access your retreat 

evaluation at:  Qualtrics Survey | AACN New Essentials Retreat Evaluation  

You will need your RN / APRN license number to place in the Qualtrics survey.

2. All faculty who attended the retreat should start as soon as possible with curriculum mapping.  This is the “what is” situation for the course(s) you teach, not your next best version. As noted by Dr. Altmiller, we need to do curriculum mapping to assess our current curricula. Then we will assess for current gaps and opportunities across courses to strengthen sub-competency attainment with the 2021 AACN Essentials in mind.

a. The curriculum map for the BS program is in an attached Excel file and lists all Level I sub-competencies. The APRN curriculum map is also in an excel format and lists all Level I & II sub-competencies. Both excel files (BS and APRN) are in the Faculty Resources file in a folder labeled, “Curriculum Mapping for Faculty in APRN and BS Program.” Dr. Altmiller’s PowerPoint slide on how to use Excel to do basic data entry tasks is also included in this folder.

b. The Faculty Resources file is available here: https://uclahs.box.com/s/ferkpviyjqzrr7qz4lirtnlm1k8nwpqg

3. Your task for curriculum mapping is to identify which sub-competencies are currently assessed in the courses you teach and to input those specific sub-competencies into the curriculum map. Some (hopefully) helpful hints on using these maps in excel include:

a. Open either the APRN or BS curriculum map – and just review the picture on your screen. Notice the columns to the left have the 10 AACN Domains with descriptors, competencies, and sub-competences (Level I for BS; Levels I & II for APRN). These columns are “frozen,” so they will stay visible as you scroll to the right to insert the requested information for your course in the empty cells. Note the top row is also frozen so you will always see the questions/instructions in the top row as you scroll down through the various domains.

b. Also notice at the bottom of the excel document, there are various tabs that indicate a “Worksheet” for each course. You can scroll to the right if your course is not immediately visible on the screen. We also placed all Essentials on a worksheet and a description of each Featured Concept on a worksheet – both are labeled. Those are for your reference should you need them.

c. Once you open your course tab, you can highlight the cell to insert the information that is requested of you.

4. We ask you to complete curriculum mapping for each of your courses by September 15, 2022. As the time draws closer, we will inform you about how to upload your map.

Opportunities for Early Adopters to Make Immediate Changes in their Courses

  1. Any faculty member who attended the retreat can choose to become an early adopter of competency-based evaluation methods aligned with the Essentials. To get started, we have created a course worksheet that you can complete as you work toward changing your courses with the AACN sub-competencies and SON end-of-program competencies in mind. See attachment or check the Faculty Resources file https://uclahs.box.com/s/ferkpviyjqzrr7qz4lirtnlm1k8nwpqg

  2. This worksheet (titled, “Moving into the Future: Early Adopters for Competency-Based Education”) is in the Faculty Resources BOX file in a file labeled “Early Adopters Worksheet for Faculty” and should help you update your 2022-2023 syllabus with:

a. A better Competencies/Skills section (consider using specific sub-competency statements from the AACN Domains)

b. Competency-based instruction and evaluation methods – lots of opportunity for creative thinking here.

c. A new set of course objectives to discuss in small groups (2-5 faculty who teach in similar courses). Early Adopters may choose to meet or Zoom with Instructional Designers, Dr. Sirui Wang or Dr. Kim DeBacco. Please reach out to Lauren Clark or Carol Pavlish with questions or suggestions as they arise.

 Faculty who Missed the Retreat: Make-up Efforts to Get on Board

For faculty who were not able to attend the retreat, we will plan a few instructional sessions via Zoom this summer. We will also provide a link to the recorded lectures by Dr. Altmiller for you to watch.

The AACN Essentials Taskforce in the School will be meeting and working on a timeline and more school-wide discussions of competency-based education.  Stay tuned for updates!

Key Contributor:

Carol Pavlish, RN, PhD, FAAN

Academic Affairs

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Lauren Clark
Professor and Shapiro Family Endowed Chair in Developmental Disability Studies

Associate Dean, Academic Programs
Mobile: (801) 503-4755
nursing.ucla.edu