Collaborative nursing education programs: challenges and issues.

Collaborative nursing education programs have been offered to facilitate access to baccalaureate-level nursing education. Our Collaborative Nursing Program involved 10 institutional partners and has been one of the largest of such programs. The collaborative approach to nursing education has been identified as an important model; the benefits include optimal use of resources and opportunities to develop and share knowledge across institutions. However, there has been little public discussion of the issues and challenges that emerge, including differing cultures, priorities, vulnerabilities, goals and aspirations between colleges and universities; desire to preserve autonomy and uniqueness; and complexity of approval and accreditation processes. Some of our college partners have chosen to offer an independent applied degree in nursing rather than continuing in a collaborative academic degree program. This paper describes the challenges inherent in maintaining quality of the degrees and strategies to increase the likelihood of continuing collaboration. Clarity and transparency are vital, and supportive programs involving mentorship of educators can foster increasing autonomy of colleges. Collaborative nursing programs pose many challenges, and their future will hinge on understanding mutual goals and expectations.