Mastering the Journey to Continuous Compliance

Abstract

The accreditation process of a nursing program requires self-assessment, peer evaluation, and identifying areas of improvement. In 2008, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) began offering a 10-year accreditation with a Continuous Improvement Progress Report (CIPR) at the fifth year. This article focuses on an in-depth analysis of a system in which the school of nursing utilized an ad hoc committee to complete the CIPR. Reports generated by the ad hoc committee concluded that need for improvement was warranted related to policy review. An action plan for continuous compliance generated implementation of policy software and the creation of an academic support specialist position. An ad hoc committee completed the CIPR rather than paying faculty overload hours; policy was an exemplar. Faculty development, team performance, and accountability resulted in a plan for continual compliance that can be adopted in other nursing schools to meet CCNE accreditation.