ACEN – AROUND THE WORLD
By Nell Ard, PhD, RN, CNE, ANEF | Director | ACEN
Bridges, Volume XIII – Issue 3, August 2019
Were you aware that the ACEN has nursing programs accredited around the world? The ACEN has a long history of accrediting nursing programs in the United States – since 1938. The ACEN also accredits nursing programs in United States territories, including: Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. The first program in Puerto Rico accredited with the ACEN was in 1963; currently, there are over 20 accredited nursing programs in Puerto Rico with other programs pursing the accreditation process. The University of the Virgin Islands was initially accredited in Fall 1987, while the University of Guam was initially accredited in Fall 1996.
The ACEN has been recognized as an accrediting agency by both the United States Department of Education (USDE) since 1952 and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) since 2001. With the CHEA recognition, the ACEN has the opportunity to accredit nursing programs internationally, since the ACEN is the only nursing accrediting agency recognized by CHEA. It is the CHEA recognition that allows the ACEN to accredit international nursing programs.
The first international nursing program was accredited by the ACEN in 2000; however, it was not until 2010 that the ACEN initially developed and released a position statement regarding the accreditation of international nursing programs. Since then, the ACEN continues to seek to broaden the impact of accreditation by encompassing programs across the globe; this resulted in a revised position statement in August 2018.
Currently, there are six international nursing programs accredited, four programs with a Candidate Status, and four programs actively pursuing the Candidacy process. The countries with currently accredited nursing programs include Scotland, Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, Turkey, and Jordan; countries having programs with a Candidate status include Jordan, Kuwait, and Columbia.
The ACEN Standards and Criteria are broad enough to enable all programs to demonstrate compliance in a variety of ways. Just as the domestic programs may differ in how they demonstrate compliance with the Standards and Criteria, the ACEN recognizes that some international programs may demonstrate Criteria achievement differently based upon nursing education in that country/region and as with some domestic programs, some of the Criteria may not be applicable.
International programs seeking and maintaining ACEN accreditation utilize the same Standards and Criteria; they follow the same peer-review process as the programs in the U.S. and its territories. International programs are also expected to adhere to all ACEN policies, including, but not limited to: reporting substantive changes, publishing program outcomes data to constituents, and submitting annual reports to the ACEN.
The ACEN provides the international nursing programs access to the same resources as domestic programs as well as access to resources specific to international programs. Additionally, the ACEN has also developed an Accreditation Manual Supplement for International Programs. The supplement provides the international programs with information regarding the candidacy process specific to international programs as well as international site visits. This supplement addresses the potential need for interpreter/translator services during accreditation visits, cultural sensitivity, and security needs during onsite visits.
The Candidacy process for an international program varies slightly with the process for domestic programs; these variations are to provide additional support and to promote success with the accreditation process. The International Candidacy Eligibility Application Form requires the program to provide additional information regarding the potential for the program to be successful with the accreditation process, including, but not limited to: information about the administration, faculty, curriculum, and finances.
Similar to domestic programs, when an international program is deemed eligible to pursue the international candidacy process, the program is assigned a professional staff member to be a mentor during the Candidacy process. The mentor works with the program during the candidacy period and assists the program faculty through the submission of the Candidacy Presentation; this presentation includes the same selected Standards and Criteria to be considered for Candidacy as the review for domestic programs. However, a variation in the international Candidacy Presentation process is the inclusion of an onsite Consulting Visit. The purpose of the onsite Consulting Visit is to verify that the program faculty and institutional administration understand the ACEN accreditation process and Standards and Criteria. Additionally, the consulting visit will verify that the program has the resources for a successful initial accreditation visit as well as maintaining accreditation once achieved. During the Consulting Visit, the professional staff members review all of the Standards and Criteria and provide the program with specific, detailed feedback to support the program in the accreditation process.
The benefits to international nursing programs to pursue the accreditation process with the ACEN include, but are not limited to:
- Increasing the global reach of the program,
- Helping students meet the U.S. undergraduate- and graduate-level nursing program admission requirements,
- Facilitating the transfer of credits,
- Providing recognition that the nursing program has been evaluated, and periodically reevaluated, by a qualified independent group of peers, and
- Demonstrates the extent to which the program meets appropriate educational purposes and standards of educational quality specific to nursing education.
Having ACEN-accredited nursing programs around the world provides the ACEN to partner with those programs in ensuring quality nursing education is available globally. While there are many similarities in nursing education globally, having the opportunity to network with nurse educators and programs from around the world, the ACEN-accredited international programs provide depth and diversity to the ACEN and its constituents. The ACEN is the leading authority for nursing education accreditation in the United States, its territories, and around the world!