National League for Nursing (NLN)

The National League for Nursing (NLN) is an organization of nurses that works to promote excellence in the field of nursing education. It traces its roots back to the end of the nineteenth century, when a group of superintendents from a variety of nurse training institutions came together to promote an increase in the standards of nursing education. The organization offers memberships to individuals involved in nursing, associates who wish to promote excellence in nursing education, and the faculty of nursing schools. The NLN is responsible for providing numerous annual awards, and plays a significant role in setting the standards of nursing education. In 2015, the NLN was criticized for playing too large a role in the process of approving or denying accreditation to nurse training schools.

Background

The founding of the National League for Nursing (NLN) dates back to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. At the gathering, a group of superintendents from nurse training schools around the country met to address the chaotic conditions in nursing education across the United States. They came together to found the Society of Superintendents of Training Schools for Nurses. The organization was chaired by Isabel Hampton, the superintendent of Johns Hopkins. The organization sought to accomplish three primary goals: improving living and working conditions for nursing students, raising requirements to enter nursing schools, and increasing the opportunities for specialized training for nurses.

In 1984, the Society of Superintendents of Training Schools for Nurses held its first convention in New York City. The organization planned its first bylaws, and committed to maintaining a universal standard of training for nurses. In the following years, the Society established the Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States, which worked to improve nursing practices throughout the country.

During the early twentieth century, the Society of Superintendents of Training Schools for Nurses merged with the Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States to form the American Federation of Nurses. The American Federation of Nurses then joined the International Council of Nurses.

In 1912, the American Federation of Nurses decided to expand, welcoming nursing teachers and public health nurses in addition to superintendents. For this reason, the American Federation of Nurses changed its name to the National League of Nursing Education. In 1917, the organization published the Standard Curriculum for Schools of Nursing, which helped to standardize nursing training across the United States. In 1942, the organization opened its doors to African American nurses nationally. Prior to that policy change, some Southern nursing leagues had prohibited the membership of African Americans.

In 1952, the National League of Nursing Education merged with the Association for Collegiate Schools of Nursing and the National Organization for Public Health Nursing to form the National League for Nursing. The NLN worked to promote nurses on a large scale, but encouraged the creation of state leagues to interact with state legislature. Soon after its creation, the US Department of Education granted the NLN power over accreditation of nursing schools in the United States. However, these privileges were later stripped from the organization.

Overview

The National League for Nursing (NLN) is an organization of nurses within the United States that strives to improve nursing education, build a strong nursing workforce, and improve the health of the global community. According to the organization’s stated goals, the NLN intends to build diversity in nursing education. It works to promote healthcare quality and safety in nursing, The NLN also works to advance the quality of nursing education by developing research initiatives and promoting evidence-based teaching practices.

NLN is responsible for presenting several annual awards. The NLN maintains the NLN Awards Committee, which seeks out nominations from both individuals and institutions across the United States. Some of the organization’s most prestigious awards include the NLN Mary Adelaide Nutting Award for Outstanding Teaching or Leadership in Nursing Education, the NLN Isabel Hampton Robb award for Outstanding Leadership in Clinical Practice, and the NLN Lillian Wald Humanitarian Award. The NLN also works to recognize local leaders through its Constituent League Leadership Awards, as well as the NLN Award for Public Policy Advancement.

The NLN offers three types of memberships to its organization: individual memberships, associate memberships, and memberships to schools of nursing. Individual memberships are open to nurses, faculty, nursing program administrators, graduate students engaged in post-baccalaureate work, and retired individuals who used to work in nursing education. Individuals are required to pay a yearly fee, and are then afforded the benefits of an NLN membership, including savings on products marketed towards the nursing profession, discounts on NLN publications, and privileges at NLN meetings. Associate memberships are offered to public and private organizations interested in the development of an educated nursing workforce, but do not themselves work in nursing. Memberships to full schools of nursing are offered to accredited nursing education institutions and maintained by the school’s dean or primary representative. They offer the benefits of membership to the entirety of the school’s full-time and part-time faculty.

Critics have sometimes opposed the NLN, arguing that it has maintained too strong an influence in the accreditation process of nursing institutions in the United States. The organization responsible for accreditations, the Accreditation Commissions for Education in Nursing, was once part of the NLN. In 2015, the committee that advises the US Education Secretary on accreditation urged the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity to strip the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing of federal recognition due to its close ties to the NLN. The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing was once part of the NLN, and at the time of the controversy, was unable to change its own bylaws without approval from the NLN.

Bibliography

“Awards.” National League for Nursing, 2021, www.nln.org/about/awards. Accessed 4 Feb. 2021.

Gaines, Kathleen. “Why Nursing School Accreditations Matters.” Nurse.org, 13 Nov. 2019, nurse.org/education/nursing-school-accreditation/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2021.

“History of NLN.” National League for Nursing, 2021, www.nln.org/about/history-of-nln. Accessed 4 Feb. 2021.

Lederman, Doug. “Nursing a Grudge.” Inside Higher Ed, 24 Jun. 2015, www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/06/24/fight-over-nursing-accreditor-threatens-its-future. Accessed 4 Feb. 2021.

“Join NLN.” National League for Nursing, 2021, www.nln.org/membership/categories-and-benefits. Accessed 4 Feb. 2021.

“National League for Nursing Mission, Goals and Objectives.” Distance Learning Systems, dlsii.com/blog/nationalleaguefornursingmissiongoalsandobjectives/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2021.

“NLN Foundation for Nursing Education Scholarship Awards.” Duke University, researchfunding.duke.edu/nln-foundation-nursing-education-scholarship-awards. Accessed 4 Feb. 2021.

“NLN Historical Timeline.” National League for Nursing, 2018, www.nln.org/about/history-of-nln/nln-history-timeline/ Accessed 4 Feb. 2021.