title: Creating and sustaining academic-practice partnerships: lessons learned.
abstract: This article outlines how one community's academic-practice partnership evolved over time as it sought to address the community's needs for a qualified competent nursing workforce. Both organization and system changes were essential in the establishment of formal structures to address nursing workforce shortage needs. Both practice and education leaders were actively engaged in setting the strategic priorities at multiple system levels in the creation of these formal structures. We anticipate that the formation of these new formal structures will advance and sustain our academic-practice partnerships. Five key lessons were learned: (a) change is inevitable, (b) leadership matters at all levels, (c) succession planning is essential, (d) persistence toward established goals is necessary, and (e) relationships are the glue to sustain forward movement.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, School of Nursing, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900, USA. breslin@uthscsa.edu
authors.forename: Eileen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Breslin
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stefl
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yarbrough
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Frazor
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bullard
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Light
authors.forename: Mickey
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Parsons
authors.forename: Ashley
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lowe
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D009726:Nurses; D012579:Schools, Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013781:Texas