The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Human Capital Blog is asking diverse experts: What is and isn’t working in health professions education today, and what changes are needed to prepare a high-functioning health and health care workforce that can meet the country’s current and emerging needs? Today’s post is by Gwen Sherwood, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor and associate dean for Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, and co-investigator for RWJF’s Quality and Safety Education for Nursing (QSEN).

Never have so many forces converged to compel transformation in nursing education. The revealing reports in the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Quality Chasm series identified serious gaps in patient safety and quality-of-care outcomes and fueled a debate on changes required in health care professions education if we are to improve. Changes in health care delivery systems and financing, advancements in knowledge, and breakthrough reports on the future of nursing ignite discussions on implementing changes in nursing education necessary to change patient care outcomes.

In the forefront of transforming the paradigm of nursing education, the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) project defined the competencies for integrating a quality and safety framework for nursing (Cronenwett et al, 2007; Cronenwett et al, 2009). Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), QSEN identified the knowledge, skills and attitudes for the six competencies identified by the IOM: All health professionals must be able to deliver patient-centered care using teamwork and collaboration, within a framework of evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and safety using informatics.