The Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies has been awarded $100,000 in funding from the American Association of Colleges and Nursing (AACN) to accelerate innovation in nursing education. The funding is through the American Nurses Foundation Reimagining Nursing Initiative, a program aimed to transform nursing education and practice. 

“We could not be more excited for the opportunity to participate in this innovative AACN initiative. Along with our Yale New Haven Health System partners and other excellent schools of nursing, this initiative supports our ability to lead the way toward competency-based nursing education. In so doing, the Egan School will continue our focus on quality, safety and inclusive, cutting-edge excellence,” Dean and Professor Meredith Wallace Kazer, PhD, APRN, FAAN.

The funding will be used to develop and implement innovative competency-based learning and assessment strategies into the curriculum. Fairfield Egan was awarded funding alongside Creighton University, Johns Hopkins University Russell Sage College, Samuel Merritt University, Texas State University, University of South Mississippi, University of Texas-Arlington, Walla Walla University, and Wright State University.

“Changing how we educate nurses and assess their learning, while engaging practice partners more deeply in this process, is the key to preparing more practice-ready nurses,” said AACN President and Chief Executive Officer Deborah Trautman. “I applaud the 10 schools of nursing selected to participate in this groundbreaking initiative for their commitment to leading change and for sharing their lessons learned and success strategies with nursing schools nationwide.”

Learn more about the Egan School at fairfield.edu/egan.