Penn Macy initiative to advance academic nursing practice

Academic nursing practice holds great promise for the future of the nursing discipline. The successful and intentional integration of the tripartite mission of research, education, and clinical practice can facilitate both the evolution of the science and implementation of evidence-based practice, while imbuing practitioners in the making with the world of the possible. Although many schools of nursing have been involved in some aspects of academic practice, the lack of common focus and direction has hampered concerted movement. The Penn Macy Initiative was conceived as a vehicle to help build and coalesce the critical mass needed to bridge this gap. The Penn Macy Initiative, its implementation and experience in the first 3 years, and how its alumni fellows, an annual conference, and Web-based consultation will continue to provide impetus, leadership, and resources for academic nursing practice in the years to come are described

Evaluation of the Penn Macy initiative to advance academic nursing practice

In the realm of academic practice, schools of nursing, especially those in research-intensive environments, face a dilemma. These schools are in the best position to shape nursing science through research based in academic practice. Yet they also face formidable challenges to maintaining balance among the three legs of the tripartite mission. The questions of whether and how to commit resources to move forward their academic practice agendas are not answered easily. The Penn Macy Initiative to Advance Academic Nursing Practice aimed to assist such schools in their development of academic practices through a week-long intensive institute and 1 year of consultation and follow-up. An evaluation of the outcomes of that experience for 21 participant schools together with the baseline characteristics that appeared, retrospectively, to be associated with success are presented and discussed