Welcome to NEXT-ANL

My name is Devon and I write for next-gen academic nursing leaders (ANLs) interested in creating next-era academic nursing.


Let’s Dream a Little Dream About the Future of Clinical Nursing Education
Article, Shorts Devon Berry Article, Shorts Devon Berry

Let’s Dream a Little Dream About the Future of Clinical Nursing Education

In the spring of 2020, nurses, nursing faculty and staff, and nursing students stood witness to the unraveling of the entire process of clinically educating the next generation of nurses… The current crisis opens a window for a paradigmatic change in the clinical education of nurses. In order to envision a change that radically reshapes and improves the future, we have to dream. Can we imagine together an approach to clinical education shaped by full-environment simulation, highly engineered learning, and robust replacement?

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Improving Operations - The Prep
Annual Series 2020, Article Devon Berry Annual Series 2020, Article Devon Berry

Improving Operations - The Prep

Once a nursing education organization sees the connection between operations and delivery on mission, it will naturally develop an appetite for improving operations. When that appetite is established, the difference between those who get nourished and those who go hungry will come down to careful planning and preparation. Read on for three fundamentals steps you should take before embarking on a journey to leverage operations for the excellence, effectiveness, and efficiency of your academic organization.

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New Wine, Old Skins
Article, Shorts Devon Berry Article, Shorts Devon Berry

New Wine, Old Skins

For many years now, the problem of finding and maintaining high-quality clinical placements has been prominent in the minds of most nurse educators… A second issue is the longstanding shortage of nursing faculty… The pandemic has brought us to an interesting crossroads in nursing education… As we rapidly innovate new approaches to educate our students, will we as a profession continue to force these new ways into old paradigms?

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Take Another Step
Article, Shorts Devon Berry Article, Shorts Devon Berry

Take Another Step

The nursing workforce has long been marked by a level of racial homogeneity… the U.S. is approximately 60% non-Hispanic white while the nursing workforce is approximately 80% white. In determining our profession’s response to our historical moment, perhaps the best action that can be taken is for every organization to take another step. Instead of returning to old steps, which have not achieved the outcomes we hoped they would, instead of only issuing statements that help others to see our values…

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Dear New Nursing Grad, Fret Not
Article, Shorts Devon Berry Article, Shorts Devon Berry

Dear New Nursing Grad, Fret Not

In the wake of the pandemic, many hospitals and healthcare agencies have been forced to freeze hiring and even furlough staff. This means finding a job could be harder than ever for some unknown period of time…  I want to encourage you to step back and do some big picture thinking. Let’s confront these three narratives: I’ll never get a job; I can’t move for a job; I won’t get the job I want… the new ripped jeans of nursing: Public health nursing

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Lowering the Water
Article, Shorts Devon Berry Article, Shorts Devon Berry

Lowering the Water

Imagine a lake or river on which boats happily float along. The water level is high enough to keep the boats safely above any rocks or debris on the bottom of the river. What happens when the water level is lowered? …In the last several months … a significant amount of resources have rapidly drained out. Now is the moment we are seeing some of our gnarliest problems exposed.

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What Shall We Become?
Article, Shorts Devon Berry Article, Shorts Devon Berry

What Shall We Become?

Imagine for a moment that decades ago we had built together a large ocean-going ship designed to transport thousands of helpers across the Atlantic from the U.S. to Europe… Then our ship hit a pandemic-sized iceberg. Who will call all hands on deck to stop and ask the critical questions about our ship, its route, and its destination?

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Stress Test?
Article, Shorts Devon Berry Article, Shorts Devon Berry

Stress Test?

If higher education doesn’t emerge from the pandemic as a smarter, stronger, and more effective contributor to the social mission, we’ll be doubling down on what is already a wavering public opinion… if a rail for improvement is not firmly laid down into the tracks guiding our current work, we may find that the long-term implications of the pandemic are far more negative than the short-term ones. Here are three ways to get started.

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