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care exacerbations with an increasing focus on prevention and wellness. Thus, nurses need
an understanding of consumer engagement and experience across all settings as an essential
component of person-centered, quality care.
In today’s society, many people seek information and use technology to help make informed
decisions about their health. Nurses seek to help patients determine what information to use
and how to use it. Individuals want to know about their options when it comes to healthcare
services, which extends to using websites to provide information on provider quality and
performance, comparing prices for common procedures, and reviewing the effectiveness of
treatments and care approaches (Adler-Milstein & Sinaiko, 2019). Gaffney (2015) stated that
as consumers shoulder more of the financial responsibility for their health care, they became
more educated about available options. Studies have shown that patients who are engaged in
decision-making regarding their care have better outcomes and lower costs (Gaffney, 2015).
Meaningful practice experiences in health care start with the individual who is actively engaged
in the journey throughout the continuum of care. Each interaction between the recipient of
care and the nurse or healthcare provider creates an experience. Practice experience is defined
as “the sum of all interactions, shaped by an organization’s culture that influence patient
perceptions across the continuum of care.” (Wolf, Niederhauser, Marshburn, & LaVela, 2014,
p. 8). Within that interactive experience, the attitudes and the behaviors of the nurse matter a
great deal. Nurses are identified as one of the most trusted professionals in the United States.
Mutual trust is foundational to an interactive and ongoing relationship that will enhance a
positive experience of care. Those with positive experiences of care often have better outcomes.
Individual engagement has been described as “the blockbuster drug of the 21st century”
(Dentzer, 2013). Who better to engage individuals in their care than nurses? Nursing practice
has focused consistently on individual care and ongoing communication with family members
and care providers. Sherman points to the fact that effective individual/family involvement
leads to safer and higher quality care. In addition, individual/patient engagement can be directly
correlated with increased reimbursement to hospitals based on achieving health outcomes.
Nurses in all settings and across the continuum of care contribute to creating a culture that
supports full engagement of individuals in their care and in the development of policies, which
will provide guidance to the improvement of individual engagement (Sherman, 2014).
Academic-Practice Partnerships
Partnerships and collaborative team-based care are the cornerstones of safe, effective care
whether it be for individuals, families, communities, or populations. Academic-practice
partnerships serve to recruit and retain nurses and to support the practice and academic
enterprise in relation to mutual research, leadership development, and a shared commitment
to redesign practice environments. Such partnerships also have the potential to facilitate the
ability of nurses to achieve educational and career advancement, prepare nurses of the future
to practice and lead, provide mechanisms for career-long learning, and provide a structure for
transition to practice programs. Successful academic-practice partnerships are predicated on
respect, relationship, reciprocity, and co-design.
The 2016 report Advancing Healthcare Transformation: A New Era for Academic Nursing
identified a path for achieving enhanced partnerships between nursing schools and academic

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THE ESSENTIALS: CORE COMPETENCIES FOR PROFESSIONAL NURSING EDUCATION