New data suggest that we are losing ground in the quest for entry-level competency. Graduates often are underprepared to operate in the complex field of professional practice where increased patient acuity and decreased length of stay, coupled with a lack of deep learning in our academic nursing programs, have exacerbated a crisis in competency.

Advancing the mission of nursing education for a future we cannot yet fully conceive is a daunting task. The rapidly changing healthcare landscape is an exciting world of innovation, digital transformation, and accelerated knowledge creation that offers hopeful, and infinite possibilities to improve patient care, safety, and outcomes. New data suggest a continuing decline in the initial preparedness of new nurses at a time when preparation is most needed. We must adapt and embrace pedagogies relevant to a new generation of learners. In this article, we first describe the digital disruption informed by innovation moving at warp speed, catalyzing necessary and long overdue change not only in healthcare, but in how education is conceptualized and delivered. Leading and promoting the paradigm shift needed for this change is not discretionary as nurse educators strive to enhance the competency of new registered nurses. Leaders in nursing education have initiated efforts to appraise the state of the academy and find approaches to lessen the transition gap, such as competency-based education. We discuss current trends at this defining moment in nursing education, and strategies to leverage the tipping point as educators mobilize to prepare future nurses for successful collaborative artificial intelligence-infused, clinical practice.

The advent of the electronic medical record has brought a new challenge to nursing education. Although most nursing students are proficient in data entry and computer skills, they often do not comprehend how the information they enter becomes a vital component of interdisciplinary team communication. Furthermore, the electronic medical record becomes a repository for information that can be retrieved for the purpose of decision support. Developed by the Cleveland Clinic, the Deans' Roundtable, and University Hospitals of Cleveland, the Student Nurse Portal provides a means of assisting the student to understand how data entered into the computer transforms into information and knowledge, resulting in the wisdom that enables healthcare workers to provide optimal patient care. Current courses present the purpose of the electronic medical record and its roleas a powerful communication tool, but future courses will also help the student develop data entry and retrieval skills. Hosted on the Cleveland Clinic servers and available to students around-the-clock from any computer with Internet access, students have found the Student Nurse Portal to be a valuable tool in preparing for the use of the electronic medical record during their clinical experiences.

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The Northeast Team of the Ohio Action Coalition, composed of regional clinical and academic educators, identified a potential barrier for nurses pursuing a baccalaureate degree. Duplication of health assessment content was identified for some associate degree graduates enrolled in RN-BSN programs, thereby adding extra time and cost for attaining the baccalaureate degree. In response, the Northeast Team of the Ohio Action Coalition developed an assessment competency evaluation that, if successfully passed, would grant credit for the health assessment course. The assessment competency evaluation provided the opportunity for students to demonstrate competency in both health assessment and clinical judgment skills.