The release of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) re-envisioned Essentials (AACN, 2021) document provided an opportunity for nurse educators to address much needed, and long called for, reform (Benner et al., 2010) in nursing education. The Essentials also generated a lot of questions, opinions, and concerns about transitioning to competency-based education (CBE) in nursing. This was especially evident after an otherwise ubiquitous question about CBE, posted to the AACN’s community page in October 2021, generated over 100 "hey - I'm interested in this too" replies in a matter of days.

 

That particular post created an unanticipated, but fortunate, misconception. Many who responded believed that a group was being formed to develop techniques for CBE in nursing. An overwhelming need to provide an avenue for these educators to collaborate on CBE initiatives became apparent, and a link to a spreadsheet for collecting contact information was shared. Within several short weeks, over 600 educators had entered their names into the document.

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Today, this grass-roots effort has grown into the Competency-Based Nursing Education (CBNE) Network, a dynamic group of educators from across the United States. The network is comprised of nine regional workgroups, each led by dedicated members who help advance CBE in areas of interest specific to their regional membership's goals. We offer a welcoming environment for scholarly collaboration that will enhance the development of innovative and evidence-based practices for educating nurses.  We hope that you'll consider joining us!

All the best,
Michele and Holly