The Role of the Nursing School in the Academic Health Center: Report of a Study

Abstract

This paper highlights for the nursing education community selected data from a recently completed study of the organization and governance of academic health centers, conducted under the auspices of the Association of Academic Health Centers and funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. It is hoped that the limited information presented here will stimulate interest in the larger study. Presented and discussed are data derived from three different questionnaires used in the study. Top administrators in academic health centers were surveyed in order to produce information on the structural components and hierarchical relationships in contemporary academic health centers, the processes by which decisions are made and conflicts are resolved, and the conditions which administrators envision for their institutions in the future. Deans of nursing schools were part of the survey group, and their responses are examined along with those of deans of other health professional schools.