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In 2007, the Northeast Region VA Nursing Alliance (NERVANA) was founded. NERVANA is an academic–practice partnership between the Boston VA Healthcare System and six schools of nursing, which include: Boston College, Northeastern University, Regis College, Simmons College, University of Massachusetts Boston and University of Massachusetts Lowell. NERVANA's mission is derived from the VA's mission, which is to provide the best health care to Veterans, advance medical knowledge through research, and train tomorrow's health care leaders. NERVANA's mission is as follows: “To employ an innovative educational model to expand and enrich nursing student and faculty, to educate nursing students in the care of Veterans, and to expose nursing students to the advanced model of medical informatics, patient safety, evidenced-based practice and integrated systems of care employed by the VA's National Healthcare System” (VA Nursing Academy, 2007, p. 1). Although the NERVANA schools are among some of the most prestigious in the nation and located in the heart of a health care mecca, none had an academic–practice partnership with an academic medical center. Thus, this consortium offers unique opportunities for both the schools of nursing and the VA Boston Healthcare Systems alike (VA Nursing Academy, 2007).
In accordance with the American Association Colleges in Nursing (AACN) and American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) Task Force on Academic–Practice Partnerships (AACN-AONE, 2012), the guiding principles of NERVANA are to strengthen nursing practice by enhancing educational preparation of nursing students and promoting career advancement for clinical nurses within the VA Boston Healthcare System. Collaborative relationships were established between the VA Boston and the six schools of nursing and mutual goals were agreed upon at the conception. The purpose of this retrospective review was to examine the outcomes of the NERVANA, in accordance with the mission and goals of the academic–practice partnership and evaluate the sustainability of the alliance.
Background
The Institute of Medicine's (2010) report on the future of nursing called for a transformation of professional nursing practice. Academic–practice partnerships are a vital component to the transformation (Beal et al., 2012). Academic–practice partnerships have been identified as an instrument to enhance nursing practice and position professional nurses to lead change and advance health (Institute of Medicine, 2010). Successful partnerships will “create systems for nurses to achieve educational and career advancement,...