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AACN Essentials Paper
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Abstract
The nine basic necessities, developed by the American Association of Colleges of
Nursing (AANC), outline the competencies that master's-educated nurses must possess. The
fundamentals encompass a broad spectrum of disciplines, including technology, leadership,
effective interprofessional skills, and informatics, all of which are crucial to providing high-
quality healthcare. Since having these competencies implies that the nurses are very well
prepared to address the demands of the community, they have played an important function
in the nursing field as a whole. Because of this, it is crucial that the organizations that train
nurses take these factors into account and give them top attention.
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AACN Essentials Paper
Introduction
The AANC Essentials are fundamental to the nursing profession, especially when it
comes to master's-level nurse education. The necessities offer a greater possibility and choice,
which is crucial in obtaining the master's education for nurses' required competencies. The
importance of training is always important to nursing as a whole. The nurses must employ
their high abilities and sophisticated knowledge acquired through appropriate training
throughout their careers. The fundamentals also describe many subjects that various
institutions providing master's level nursing education must take into account as the primary
requirements for training nurses. Consequently, this essay will give a summary and review of
some of the crucial, as well as the crucial role they play in the Master's level nursing
education.
AACN Essentials
The nine master's education basics include the principles of the required curricula,
which specify what is expected of nurses with postgraduate training. The main goal of
master's programs in nursing education is to equip graduates with the skills necessary to
succeed in a variety of academic fields. The disciplines are interprofessional engagement,
innovations, evidence-based practice utilization, culture competencies, leadership abilities,
and incorporating care services into medical systems. Using the aforementioned disciplines in
their respective domains, nurses can readily engage in a wide range of high level practices
(Chulay, Suzanne, Chulay, & Suzanne, 2020). In many cases, nurses who are trained with
these qualities in mind end up being more competent and skilled.
Essential I: Liberal Education for Baccalaureate Generalist Nursing Practice
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The first requirement emphasizes the importance of nursing programs incorporating
scientific and humanities study results into their sectors of professional practice. For nurses to
continuously advance the nursing profession in various healthcare settings, training must take
into account these two crucial areas (Giddens, Douglas, & Conroy, 2022).
Essential II: Basic Organizational and Systems Leadership for Quality Care and Patient
Safety
The second essential places a strong emphasis on systemic and organizational
leadership. This fundamental takes into account the fact that leadership is important in many
areas. The finest thing about training nurses in necessary leadership abilities is that it
empowers them to make important decisions regarding their place of employment. Having
leadership abilities aids nurses in making moral choices (Burns & Delgado, 2018). Therefore,
the main objective of this requirement is to make sure that effective working relationships are
established, which in turn improves the systems approach to handling various difficulties
relevant to the realization of the goals and desired outcomes in the nursing practice.
Essential III: Scholarship for Evidence Based Practice
The third fundamental, quality improvement and safety, highlights the need to make
sure that nurses pursuing a master's degree have the necessary skills to assist them become
more familiar with the instruments of their job. It is important to employ these tools since
doing so ensures that nurses will be better able to use them in organizational settings. The
purpose of this requirement is to make sure that nurses can evaluate their performance, which
will aid in raising the caliber of service.
Essential IV: Information Management and Application of Patient Care Technology
The topic of informatics and medical technology is covered in the fifth essential. It
suggests that skilled nurses must be able to use information and communication technology
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in their line of work (Welch, & Smith, 2022). If nurses are taught according to this
requirement, they will be better equipped to address all of the clients' demands. It is also
crucial for nurses to be digital savvy so they can coordinate and integrate technology into
patient care.
Essential V: Healthcare Policy, Finance, and Regulatory Environments
Recognizing the advocacy features of health policy is the main focus of Essential VI.
It suggests that nurses should learn about healthcare policies in general. The second need
calls for the training to concentrate on giving graduates the knowledge necessary to
comprehend the significance of having positive interprofessional relationships and
partnerships (McCauley et al., 2020). This fundamental takes into account the value of nurses
collaborating closely with other medical professionals to satisfy patient requirements.
Essential VI: Interprofessional Communication and Collaboration for Improving
Patient Health Outcomes
The emphasis of Essential IV is on the necessity for Master's students to put their
academic knowledge into practice. It indicates that they must be able to handle any problems
that may occur as a result of their work as nurses. Thus, this essay argues that nurses should
be given the skills necessary to act as change agents in a variety of workplace settings in
order to produce the desired outcomes.
Essential VII: Clinical Prevention and Population health
In order to provide high-quality care, essential eight emphasizes the necessity for
nurses to be able to integrate newly learned information and build clinical practices that will
help control things like the burden of chronic ailments and infectious diseases. It concentrates
on enhancing the health of various communities. As a result, factors like poverty shouldn't
prevent doctors from providing patients with high-quality care (Burns & Delgado, 2019).
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Essential VIII: Professionalism and Professional Values
The distribution of healthcare systems as well as other related aspects have undergone
numerous modifications throughout the last few decades. As a result, it has increased the
need for standards to be developed, which will lead to the desired outcomes in the nursing
field. It is crucial to set certain measures that will show nurses achieving the Master's level
and applying a variety of knowledge in their work because the sector's developments have
made it impossible to predict future needs (Chulay, Suzanne, Chulay, & Suzanne, 2020).
Thus, the necessities contributed to a plan that would enable nurses to develop a range of
skills in order to meet the constantly shifting demands of the healthcare industry. The
fundamentals demand that nurses get training in a way that equips them with the necessary
abilities and information to address a range of demands. The main issue facing modern
civilization is the provision of cost-effective yet high-quality healthcare. However, the
profession and training components are equally crucial because having a professionally
trained workforce is necessary.
Essential IX: Baccalaureate Generalist Nursing Practice
The last requirement, master's level nursing practice, intends to provide key nursing
practice guidelines at the conclusion of the nursing course. All nurses are expected to have a
thorough understanding of professional growth in order to meet this goal's criteria.
Conclusion
In summary, the AANC core competencies have served as the foundation for what is
anticipated in the education of nurses at all levels of education. They offer the actual
dynamics of the nursing field, which are crucial for all nurses to understand and strive for.
The primary goal of the fundamentals is to guarantee that the nurses receive training that will
enable them to achieve the goals and expectations of the general public. Leadership, for
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example, is crucial in many professions and affects how nurses perform in terms of making
wise judgments. Therefore, ensuring that students receive effective instruction that
concentrates on these fundamentals should be a top priority for all schools.
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References
Burns, S. M., & Delgado, S. A. (2019). AACN essentials of critical care nursing. McGraw
Hill Education..
Chulay, M., Suzanne, M., Chulay, M., & Suzanne, M. (2020). AACN Essentials of Critical
Care Nursing Pocket Handbook (80). STIKES PERINTIS PADANG.
Giddens, J., Douglas, J. P., & Conroy, S. (2022). The Revised AACN Essentials:
Implications for Nursing Regulation. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 12(4), 16-22.
Welch, T. D., & Smith, T. B. (2022). AACN Essentials as the Conceptual Thread of Nursing
Education. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 46(3), 234-244.
