Assistant professor and professor emerita co-author article on academic-practice partnership accepted for publication in Journal of Professional Nursing.
Linda Hickman, PhD '98, MBA, RN, FACHE, assistant professor, and Mary Etta Mills, ScD, MS '73, BSN '71, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, professor emerita have had an article, "Guiding steps for a student-focused academic-practice partnership: Building clinical nursing capacity," accepted for publication in the January - February 2026 issue of the Journal of Professional Nursing.
The current nursing workforce and faculty shortfall challenges academic institutions and health care organizations to reexamine relationships and align in ways to meet the need for a qualified, competent nursing workforce. Establishment of academic-practice partnerships has been widely acknowledged as a bridge between academia and clinical care delivery resulting in outcomes supporting the advancement of professional practice.
This article offers a step-by-step guide to developing such a partnership and relates this plan to how the University of Maryland School of Nursing and 22 Maryland hospital organizations partnered to address regional nursing workforce and faculty challenges.