title: Mission possible: twenty-five years of university and college collaboration in baccalaureate nursing education.
abstract: In Canada, nurse educators from five postsecondary institutions in the province of British Columbia established a collaborative nursing education initiative in 1989, with a vision to transform RN college diploma programs to baccalaureate degree programs. The principles, processes, and structures that served to develop and sustain this nursing education initiative are briefly reviewed. Curriculum, scholarship, and education legislation serve as platforms to critically explore a 25-year history (1989-2014) of successes, challenges, and transitions within this unique nursing education collaboration. The importance of curriculum development as faculty development, program evaluation as an adjunct to pedagogical scholarship, diversity of cross-institutional mandates, political interplay in nursing education, collegiality, and courageous leadership are highlighted. Nurse educators seeking to create successful collaborations must draw upon well-defined principles and organizational structures and processes to guide pedagogical practices and inquiry while remaining mindful of and engaged in professional and societal developments.
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zawaduk
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duncan
authors.forename: M Star
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Mahara
authors.forename: Betty
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tate
authors.forename: Doris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Callaghan
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McCullough
authors.forename: Marilyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Jocelyne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Neste-Kenny
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D014495:Universities / Q000458:organization & administration*