Newswise — Two new week-long education programs—the Nurse Educator Academy and the Patient Safety Academy—are the latest in a series of innovative and timely Johns Hopkins Nursing offerings developed through a unique partnership between the top-ranked Johns Hopkins University (JHU) School of Nursing and the Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) Department of Nursing.

The Nurse Educator Academy addresses the crushing need for nursing faculty to educate the nurses of tomorrow and the growing demand for staff to educate today's practicing nurses. The Patient Safety Academy meets the urgent need to prepare nurses to lead interdisciplinary initiatives that will reduce medical errors and increase patient safety. Both programs offer learning experiences that reach beyond a traditional classroom education.

The skill-building Nurse Educator Academy is geared toward nurses seeking to master teaching skills and can be taken for academic credit or continuing education contact hours. Current or aspiring nurse educators will learn contemporary teaching techniques and strategies; experience the next generation of teaching technologies; enhance presentation skills; convert education theory into practice; and, ultimately, demystify the elements of the teaching process. The Nurse Educator Academy is scheduled for January 16-21, 2005, in Baltimore, MD. Learn more and register at http://www.ijhn.jhmi.edu/NurseEducator/default.html.

The Patient Safety Academy is designed for all nurses who will develop safety initiatives in their organizations: nurse administrators, nurse executives, clinical nurse specialists and leaders, staff nurses, and nurses in advanced practice and risk management. The curriculum prepares participants to identify and prioritize organizational safety issues; to design a safety improvement plan; and to develop skills and knowledge to become an effective safety champion. The Patient Safety Academy will be held February 27"March 3, 2005, in Baltimore, MD. To register, visit http://www.ijhn.jhmi.edu/PatientSafetyAcademy/default.html.

These new Academies and other Johns Hopkins Nursing educational offerings focus on a multi-disciplinary approach and feature experts from across the Hopkins facilities, including the Hospital, the schools of Nursing, Medicine, Public Health, and Professional Studies in Business and Education, and JHPIEGO. All tap the expertise of Johns Hopkins Nursing—the SON and JHH nurse clinicians, researchers and educators who are innovators in nursing practice, science, and scholarship. The Academies are presented through the Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing, the joint JHU School of Nursing and the JHH Department of Nursing, formed to promote and support nursing excellence and to foster communication and collaboration between nursing education and nursing practice.