August 4, 2021
The National League for Nursing (NLN) has named Ursuline College a Center of Excellence in Nursing Education for its sustained efforts to “enhance student learning and professional development.” Ursuline is one of 10 programs nationally, and the only nursing program in Ohio, honored in the learning and professional development category. The Center of Excellence designation is for 2021 through 2025.
“We are delighted to receive this well-deserved honor from the National League for Nursing,” said Ursuline College President Sister Christine De Vinne, OSU, PhD. “Based on objective measures including our historically high passage rates on the national nurse licensing exam, our 100% employment rate post licensure, and our strong clinical partnerships with some of the nation’s top health care systems, we already knew our Breen School of Nursing and Health Professions offered excellent programs. This NLN recognition lets the rest of the world know.”
Patricia A. Sharpnack DNP, RN, CNE, NEA-BC, ANEF, FAAN, Dean of Ursuline's Breen School of Nursing and Health Professions, agreed. “Ursuline faculty submitted a 100-page document that provided evidence, data, background information, and testimonials from health care partners. What we were able to demonstrate is our commitment, sustained over decades, to teaching evidence-based nursing practice and promoting our students’ development as professionals.”
The NLN Center of Excellence designation has, to-date, been awarded to only 79 schools in the nation.
In an official announcement sent to Dr. Sharpnack, NLN Membership Director Elizabeth Reyna wrote, “The National League for Nursing is proud to offer the Centers of Excellence program as a way to recognize schools that have demonstrated a commitment to excellence and invested resources over a sustained period of time to distinguish themselves in a specific area related to nursing education. It is an honor to count Ursuline College among the outstanding group of recipients of this designation.”
NLN President and CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FANN, said in a prepared statement, “National League for Nursing Centers of Excellence help raise the bar for all nursing programs by role modeling visionary leadership and environments of inclusive excellence that nurture the next generation of a strong and diverse nursing workforce to advance the health of the nation and the global community.”
In total, 23 nursing programs, from Alabama to Oregon, were recognized by the NLN in four categories. Cleveland Clinic was recognized for “Creating workplace environments that promote the academic progression of nurses.” The full list of honorees is posted on the NLN website.
Three Awards for Ursuline at national summit
Dr. Sharpnack and other Breen faculty will receive the Center of Excellence award on behalf of Ursuline College at the 2021 NLN Education Summit in Washington, D.C. in September. At that same gathering – the largest nurse educator conference in the country, typically attended by hundreds of nurse educators and clinicians – Ursuline faculty will receive two other NLN awards.
Dr. Sharpnack will receive the NLN’s prestigious Mary Adelaide Nutting Award for Outstanding Teaching or Leadership in Nursing Education. The NLN Awards Committee unanimously selected Dr. Sharpnack for this honor, awarded to one educator annually. The Awards Committee found her contributions to be an outstanding representation of the NLN's mission: promoting excellence in nursing education to build a strong and diverse nursing workforce to advance the health of the nation and the global community.
Associate Professor Laura Goliat DNP, APRN, FNP-BC will be inducted as a Fellow in the NLN Academy of Nursing Education. Individuals selected for this honor have made enduring and substantial contributions to nursing education as teachers, mentors, scholars, public policy advocates, practice partners and administrators. They provide visionary leadership and are recognized for their expertise in nursing education.
