In the League of Nurses

Like the League of Nations, nurses have their own league as well. The National League for Nursing (NLN) is foremost in the development of nurses worldwide. It offers a range of opportunities to nurses, from testing services to research grants. NLN has more than a thousand institutional members under their wing.

It started its operation in 1893 as a subgroup of the American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools for Nurses, and it is the first nursing facility in the United States. Their core values are indicative of their desire to improve the quality of nurses in the country.

NLN takes good care of their nurses so they can take good care of their patients. Promoting health and wellness has come to be a priority with NLN over the years. They see to it that the citizens of America and are healthy and free of any debilitating diseases. Integrity is also an indispensable element in the execution of their duties. They understand that they are not just treating the sick, but they are also setting themselves as moral guides to their patients.

They aim to treat their patients as individuals, too, not just a statistic. For NLN, every patient is unique. NLN strives to achieve excellence in the delivery of their work. They create strategies that enables these nurses to connect with their patients in a more personal way. These are the values that NLN have since its birth more than a century ago. Caring for the sick, establishing integrity with their patients, promoting excellence at work, with the understanding that every patient has its own peculiar need, makes NLN instrumental in the development of nursing education. NLN plays a key role of building diversity in the nursing field. They help educate our nurses with the goal of making them as an integral piece for a healthy nation.

National League for Nursing Mission, Goals and Objectives

The National League for Nursing is a premier national organization for faculty nurses and leaders in nursing education. It is concerned with the improvement of nursing education and nursing services and the provision of health care in the United States.

The National League for Nursing operates in the following Mission, Goals, and Objectives:

Mission
The National League for Nursing promotes excellence in nursing education to build a strong and diverse nursing workforce to advance the health of our nation and the global community. ​

Goals and Objectives

Goal I

Leader in Nursing Education: Enhance the NLN’s national and international impact as the recognized leader in nursing education.

Objectives

The NLN will:

  • Be a key player in initiatives to build diversity in the nurse educator workforce
  • Promote the preparation of a nursing workforce that contributes to health care quality and safety
  • Be acknowledged as the leader in advancing excellence and innovation in nursing education
  • Be the primary source of data for legislation, regulations, or decisions about nursing education and the nurse educator workforce; and that informs teaching practices across all types of nursing education programs for diverse student populations
  • Be a key player in creating a community of nurse educators from around the world to address and influence issues related to excellence in nursing education

Goal II

Commitment to Members: Build a diverse, sustainable, member-led organization with the capacity to deliver our mission effectively, efficiently, and in accordance with our values.

Objectives

The NLN will:

  • Continually seek out, engage, and be responsive to full- and part-time nurse faculty, individuals preparing for the faculty role, nursing education researchers, and other health care and academic professionals
  • Be the leading provider of products and services for the continuous professional development of nursing faculty
  • Build a diverse membership through comprehensive, inclusive, and aggressive methods
  • Design all NLN programs and initiatives, including activities of affiliated constituent leagues, to provide maximum benefit to NLN members
  • Achieve its annual revenue goals while ensuring that the infrastructure meets the growing needs of the organization
  • Goal III

Champion for Nurse Educators: Be the voice of nurse educators and champion their interests in political, academic, and professional arenas.​

Objectives

The NLN will:

  • Continue to provide opportunities to dialogue with the nurse educator community
  • Promote nursing education as an advanced practice role
  • Shape and inform public policy on nursing education
  • Lead efforts to create and sustain healthful work environments that value and support a diverse community of nurse educators
  • Expand and sustain alliances with other influential organizations
  • Goal IV

Advancement of the Science of Nursing Education: Promote evidence-based nursing education and the scholarship of teaching.​

Objectives

The NLN will:

  • Promote the continuous development of faculty as educator-scholars
  • Advocate for resources to support nursing education research
  • Develop, design, and advance research initiatives that have broad-based significance, promote evidence-based teaching practices, are critical to decision making at institutional and national levels, and serve to transform nursing education

National League for Nursing: Striving for Excellence

The National League for Nursing was founded with a vision to promote excellence in the nursing education. They encourage nurses to be educators of the new generation of nurses. NLN identifies itself to be a leader in the Nursing Education which strives to build a strong and diverse nursing workforce of the nation and the global community.

With this goal at hand, it is understood that the National League for Nursing wants to give those nurses in education several opportunities for advancement in their profession. By doing so, NLN  continuously designs and creates initiatives that will develop and promote the nursing faculty. This gives nursing professionals the motivation to work as a mentor to the new breed of nurses.

The role of the nurses in the health institutions does not revolve around the patients alone. They also have responsibilities that encompass the facilitation of  learning of the nursing students. Every profession in every generation needs a mentor. And to become an effective and inspiring mentor, a certain organization is needed to make opportunities for development. The NLN has seen this and has responded to the need of the nursing educators. Hence,  they have established objectives for the betterment of the nursing faculty and the nursing education institution.

When nursing educators affiliate with NLN, numerous opportunities await them. Other than faculty development programs, NLN has become the voice of nurse educators and support them in  their interests  in politics, academic and professional practice. NLN also initiates to promote evidence-based teaching practices which opens privileges for further study and research. Presently, the National League for Nursing has outlined numerous professional opportunities for nurse educators like educational research grant, write or review items for NLN tests, immersion programs, courses and workshops and many more. Check on their website to learn more about the National League for Nursing.

National League for Nursing Academy Class of 2014

The National League for Nurses has chosen twenty nurse educators as the eight class of fellows. They were all endorsed for induction into the prestigious Academy of Nursing Education. There were also two nurse educators who were named as honorary fellows, this is the category for nurses who have dedicated their life in educating nurses, those who retired from service, and those who have made a significant contributions and honor to nursing education. The induction ceremony will be held during the 2014 Education Summit on September 14 Friday evening at the NLN Banquet. This will be witnessed by the 187 nurse leaders in nursing education, health care professionals and other guests from other institutions.

The review panel of the Academy of Nursing Education has to consider a vast number of things, like background, records, affiliations, etc of the prospected nurse fellow. One of their criteria will be the applicants’ contributions and efforts towards innovative teaching/learning strategies; nursing education research; faculty training and development activities; leadership in the academe; being active in promoting the improvement of health care system or being able to collaborate with institutions and other partners towards the advancement of the nursing education.

The Academy of Nursing Education was established in 2007 by the NLN in the year 2007 with the hopes of creating excellence in nursing education by focusing on the wisdom and skills of the nursing educators. The Chief Executive Officer of the NLN Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN, explained that the fellows will support the mission and the core values of the NLN and will assist in the work required to prepare graduates from the different types of nursing programs. The fellows will be the mentors of the next generation of nurse educators and for those in the clinical practice who wants to be a part of a nursing faculty.