Paper explores how academic health systems can cultivate lifelong learning

A National Academy of Medicine discussion paper calls for nursing leaders at academic health systems to integrate pre- and post-licensure education efforts with schools of nursing to ensure nurses are prepared for practice throughout their careers. Authored by deans and CNEs from U.S. academic health systems, the paper discusses how academic health systems can support clinical competency on a continuum, across career phases, with distinct oversight and enrichment levels to build sustainable clinician workforce pipelines and keep pace with developments in technology, artificial intelligence and data science. The authors call for academic-practice integration, including building integrated governance and care models. They maintain academic health systems can leverage their existing knowledge, human capital and resources to solve workforce challenges without necessarily increasing costs.