Task Forces

Purpose

Ambulatory care nursing practice is in a constant state of change and the Scope and Standards of Practice must be updated to reflect the changes.

This Task Force will update and revise the Scope and Standards of Practice for Professional Ambulatory Care Nursing, 9th Edition, and create the 10th edition. New content specific to social determinants of health, health equity, and updated conceptual model are a critical part of ambulatory care practice and will be reflected in the updated scope and standards document.

Leadership

Purpose

Coordinating patient care and managing patient transitions are crucial parts of the role of the registered nurse (RN). AAACN supports the practice of care coordination and transition management (CCTM) with resources designed to enhance your practice.

AAACN’s Care Coordination and Transition Management (CCTM) Course, based on the CCTM Core Curriculum, was designed to empower you to apply evidence-based content to your practice.

This Task Force is conducting a thematic analysis of the CCTM Course evaluations in the Online Library, and will provide a summary of findings and provide recommendations for revisions to the next version of the CCTM Course.

Leadership

Purpose

AAACN is fully committed to advancing our efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In addition to adding a separate and distinct DEI goal to our most recent strategic plan, we are actively redesigning our governance infrastructure to ensure the future leadership and membership of AAACN is as diverse as the environments we proudly work and live within.

One of our first steps in this process is the creation of our new Diversity Task Force. This group of leaders will assist our board, committees, other task forces and membership at large in creating and focusing on those DEI initiatives that most closely reflect our culture, our profession, and our desired future state.

Leadership

Purpose

The Nurse-Sensitive indicator Industry Report (NSI) articulates the value of nursing’s contributions by measuring elements of patient care and patient outcomes that are directly affected by nursing practice. They can be measures that reflect structure and process of care such as volume, RN demographics, and staffing metrics. The identification and measurement of NSIs is critical in describing the contributions and value of RNs in ambulatory care settings.

AAACN has commissioned a new Task Force to revise the original NSI Industry Report published in 2016 to include changes and progress on industry, NSIs, and meaningful benchmarking and strategies for enculturation into nursing practice in ambulatory to date.

Leadership

Purpose

The original Preceptor Guide for Ambulatory Care Nursing was published in 2017 by a workgroup from the Patient/Staff Education Special Interest Group (SIG), after they determined that there were not many written guides for developing an ambulatory care nursing preceptor program. They also identified the need for a tool that would assist ambulatory care nurses in translating the Ambulatory Care Nursing Orientation and Competency Assessment Guide into practice.

It is important to stay relevant as health care continues to advance in both primary and specialty care. The original Preceptor Guide needs to be reviewed to determine what updates are needed at this time.

This Task Force will update and revise the Preceptor Guide for Ambulatory Care Nursing and create the 2nd edition.

Leadership

Purpose

RN activities are increasingly being viewed as high in value, contributing to improved patient outcomes, shifting to right site of care, and health care cost containment. Innovative models include: independent nurse visits, collaborative co-visits with providers; evolved care management models for transition management, complex care, and advanced illness care; and RN led team care.

While the evidence for advocating employment of RNs in innovative and value-based care roles is present, AAACN leaders and members struggle to establish an effective business cases (ROI) that support hiring RNs and implementing new models of care.

The Task Force is developing a starter toolkit for new ambulatory care leaders that will  include a business case description and a return on investment (ROI) template, talking points, and exemplars that support AAACN members as they advocate for implementing and expanding the RN role in ambulatory care.

Leadership

Purpose

In 2011, AAACN published the first-ever position statement regarding the role of the registered nurse (RN) in ambulatory care. Since that time, tremendous changes have occurred in healthcare, especially in ambulatory care.

Healthcare reform, the Affordable Care Act, the implementation of care coordination as a strategy to improve health and prevent rehospitalization, and the transition from volume-based to value-based care has resulted in an increased focus on the ambulatory care setting as the site of health care provision now and in the future.

This position paper reflects the current state of ambulatory care and the crucial role of the RN as a care provider, care coordinator, and care partner. It also highlights potential role changes and adaptations for the future.

AAACN is forming a Task Force to review and update the Role of the RN in Ambulatory Care Nursing Position Statement and Paper.

Leadership

Purpose

The AAACN vision of telehealth nursing practice (TNP) has expanded from the initial telephone triage to telehealth nursing to accommodate changes in practice. However, telephone triage remains a current and significant form of telehealth nursing as it is practiced today. Since 2014, our members have been requesting education and training resources to support TNP, and at that time 67.7% of respondents were practicing telephone triage/advice.

Even with the rapidly increasing use of other technology, the discussion content of our telehealth community clearly demonstrates a priority focus on telephone triage.

AAACN member Carol Rutenberg developed a two-day telephone triage seminar specifically for the nurse, which also includes content regarding program design and management. This seminar has been taught for 20 years, and there is continued demand. Carol is looking forward to retirement, but her commitment to telephone triage nursing remains strong, and she would like the program she developed to continue to be of use into the future.

Carol gifted her seminar content to AAACN. This Task Force will update and revise the course content and develop AAACN’s own online telephone triage nursing course based on the content of Carol's proven education.

The completed course will provide in-depth and comprehensive education in telephone triage through the AAACN Online Library. The Telephone Triage Course will be available for purchase in Fall 2022.

See the most current updates.

Leadership

Purpose

Workplace violence toward nurses is an increasingly prevalent issue. The occurrence of violence toward healthcare workers is higher than in most professions and has only increased throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the American Nurses Association, one in four nurses is assaulted on the job. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that healthcare workers and those who work in social services are five times more likely to experience workplace violence than other workers.

AAACN formed the Workplace Safety Task Force to develop resources to educate members on the topic of ambulatory care workplace safety and violence prevention methods.

Leadership

Purpose

AAACN recognized the need to create a pipeline to practice for nurses in ambulatory care settings. A looming nursing shortage, historical exclusion of ambulatory care as a clinical learning setting in academia, and the need to educate, inform, and foster RNs working to top of license in all ambulatory care settings has created a critical demand to develop strategies to increase the number of informed and empowered ambulatory care RNs.

This Task Force developed the Best Practice Guidelines for Academic and Practice Partnerships in Ambulatory and Community Settings, which provides comprehensive guidance in initiating and sustaining partnerships that establish a pipeline of competent nurses prepared to practice in ambulatory care settings.

This publication highlights five distinct sections to guide the development of Academic Practice Partnerships, from the initial stages of assessing readiness and establishing the partnership to the actual placement of students or developing nurse residency programs.

Each section features guideline recommendations based on literature review, theme identification, and subject matter experts’ survey response.

Learn More, View, or Purchase

Leadership

Purpose

This Task Force revised the Ambulatory Care Nursing Review Questions, 4th edition, to complement the Core Curriculum for Ambulatory Care Nursing, 4th edition (2019). The Review Questions serve as a study reference for the Ambulatory Care Nursing certification exam.

The Ambulatory Care Nursing Review Questions, 5th edition is available for purchase in the AAACN online store.

Leadership

Purpose

The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 Committee examined the lessons learned from the 2010 Future of Nursing Campaign for Action, as well as the current state of science and technology and producing a report of the capacity of the nursing profession to meet the anticipated health and social care demands from 2020 to 2030.

This Task Force prepared a formal AAACN statement to the Future of Nursing 2020-2030 Committee that illustrates the value of ambulatory care nursing to the future of nursing, as well as talking points for each of the Future of Nursing Town Halls.

AAACN was thrilled to be one of four organizations asked to provide comments at the Philadelphia Future of Nursing Town Hall in July 2019.

Learn more about AAACN’s participation in the Town Hall and access resources, presentations, and videos.

Leadership

Purpose

The Nurse Executive Task Force focused on the importance of nursing leadership in the ambulatory care setting and the need to develop structures that underscore nursing, value, ownership, accountability, and collaboration within the interdisciplinary team so that ultimately the best care can be provided to patients and families across the continuum.

Following a survey of nurse executives in 2017, a need was identified to work on opportunities, challenges, barriers, and advocacy from the ambulatory care nurse executive perspective. The Task Force includes members from different ambulatory care areas, including academic medical centers, large, mid-size, small, community health, and rural health ambulatory care practices.

Initial work identified the current state and optimal state of nursing executive roles and organizational structures for each ambulatory care practice area. The Task Force has created an online toolkit that addresses the 14 nurse executive competencies developed by the American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONL) and interprets them for use in ambulatory care.

View the Toolkit

Members of this task force presented this work at a Panel presentation at the 2019 AAACN conference, discussing the differences in competencies for nurse executives functioning in large, mid-size, rural, and academic practices.

Leadership

Purpose

The Ambulatory Care Registered Nurse Residency White Paper was reviewed by the RN Residency White Paper Review and Update Task Force in 2022. The Task Force determined that the content of the paper is still relevant and useful, and developed a prologue to enhance the utility of the paper. The prologue, inserted into the beginning of the paper, provides guidance to any professional looking to incorporate an ambulatory care nurse residency program into their facility.

The prologue confirms the significance of the Ambulatory Care Registered Nurse Residency White Paper, as well as highlights current dilemmas of nurses working to incorporate these programs. It offers advice on how to potentially obtain funding for start-up, and provides a network of facilities that have successfully created and sustained ambulatory care nursing residency programs and have generously made themselves available to be contacted with related questions and concerns.

Ambulatory nurse residency programs are the standard for nurses to be successful in the ever-critical setting of ambulatory care. This prologue provides a current avenue for facilities to build a successful and sustainable program.

View the Updated RN Residency White Paper

Leadership

Purpose

In 2014, AAACN conducted a member survey to identify telehealth nursing needs and challenges. The number one response to the questions “What product or information would best support telehealth nursing practice (TNP) in your organization?” and “What can AAACN do to help meet the challenges?” was training and education.

The fact that TNP provides many services (e.g., triage, education and advice, video conferencing, remote patient monitoring, patient applications and care coordination) and uses many technologies (e.g., telephone, video, email, portals, remote monitoring equipment) supports the idea that a variety of specific knowledge and skills are needed depending on the service, the technology, and the desired outcomes.

This Task Force reviewed current resources to be used for the education, orientation, professional development, or practice resource for nurses engaged in telehealth practice, and developed the Telehealth Nursing Practice Education Resources Directory.

Leadership