AACN Changes: What You Need to Know

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Recently, the landscape of healthcare education has changed. The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has changed its competency requirements.

AACN, the leading certification body according to the National Board of Nursing has revamped its criteria on what schools need to teach to their learners to continue to be recognized as an AACN accredited school. With 10 specific domains and multiple subcategories, it is more important for r schools to stay on top of the new changes with the equipment they currently have. 

Avkin’s innovative wearable simulators paired with a live patient will help keep your school meet the new AACN competencies.


New AACN Competency Requirements:

Domain 1: Knowledge for Nursing Practice

AACN believes that nursing students should have a working knowledge of other disciplines, including a foundation in liberal arts and sciences. Avkin provides 2 simulations with each wearable simulator that is purchased. These simulations provide the learners the opportunity to apply the knowledge that they gain in the traditional classrooms as well as apply clinical reasoning. 

Domain 2: Person-Centered Care

Simulation is expected to teach learners to focus on a patient, their background, the context of why they are in need of care, family history while being respectful, and compassionate. Avkin’s wearable birthing simulator, Avbirth, exposes the learners to care for a live patient and their support person, allowing them to practice holistic, respectful, and compassionate care. 

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Domain 3: Population Health

Universities are expected to teach their learners the importance of collaborating and stakeholders for the improvement of equitable population health outcomes. Allowing diverse populations to play the role of the patient in a simulation they can represent themselves and provide feedback to students.

Domain 4: Scholarship for the Nursing Discipline

Schools are expected to include primary empirical research, analysis of large data sets, theory development, and methodological studies in their Nursing curriculum. Students should learn to critique research, communicate scholarly findings, and Participate in scholarly inquiry as a team member among other things. 

Avbirth, the world's only fully-automated, wearable birhting simulator in-practice.


Domain 5: Quality and Safety 

Quality and Safety are core values in nursing practice. Learners must be taught emerging principles of safety and improvement science so they have the ability to minimize the risk of harm to patients and providers. Avkin’s simulations put learners in various scenarios that allow them to practice identifying strategies to improve outcomes of safe patient care.

Domain 6: Interprofessional Partnership 

AACN says that it is important that learners should practice interacting with other professionals and care team members, patients, families, and communities to optimize care, enhance the healthcare experience and improve better outcomes. Utilizing, wearable simulators expands the scope of care for the simulation allowing learners from different professions to work in a team environment and communicate with their patients.

Avbirth, the world's only fully-automated, wearable birthing simulator in practice.

Domain 7: System-Based Practice 

Schools are expected to give their learners the ability to effectively and proactively coordinate resources to provide safe, quality, equitable care to diverse populations. Avkin offers 3 different skin tones for each product that allows the learners to interact with different cultures and beliefs to help expose nurses to different points of view. 

Domain 8: Informatics and Healthcare Technologies 

Curriculums are expected to teach learners new Informatics processes and technologies that are used to manage and improve the delivery of safe, high-quality, and efficient healthcare services in accordance with best practices and professional and regulatory standards.

Domain 9: Professionalism

Learners are expected to be taught the formation and cultivation of sustainable nursing identity, accountability, perspective, collaborative dispositions, and a compartment that reflects nursing’s characteristics and values. 

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Domain 10: Personal, Professional, and Leadership Development

Schools are expected to present opportunities or activities that learners can have the ability to self-reflect that foster personal health, resilience, wellbeing, lifelong learning, and support the acquisition of nursing expertise and assertion of leadership. 

Avkin’s wearable simulators are the best solution for situationists around the country to meet the AACN competency requirements. With the various simulations paired with any of our wearable simulators, learners will have the opportunity to learn and practice the AACN competencies that have been outlined. Book a meeting to talk to one of our solution consultants who can help you take the next steps of meeting AACN competencies 

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