Why in the World Would You Hire a Consultant for Accreditation?

Written By Elaine Fisher

A Real Conversation—A Real Question

“Why in the world would we hire a consultant? We’ve got plenty of faculty who know what they’re doing!”

That’s the question a colleague recently posed after we launched our nursing education consulting firm. It’s fair—and it’s familiar. Many schools have intelligent, committed faculty and administrators who’ve weathered countless cycles of program updates, curricular reform, and some an accreditation or two.

So why hire support from the outside?

Let’s unpack it.

Reason #1: Your Most Valuable People Already Have a Full-Time Job.

Accreditation isn’t just about knowing the standards—it’s about the relentless behind-the-scenes work it takes to meet them.

  • Writing reports, collecting examples, building evidence tables

  • Mapping outcomes to curriculum, embedding new standards

  • Editing and re-editing (because the voice needs to sound unified)

  • Preparing for site visits, faculty walkthroughs, leadership alignment

Pulling your best faculty or administrators away from teaching, leadership, or program direction to deal with logistics and documentation is costly—often more costly than engaging temporary expertise.

Why pull your most valuable assets away from what they do best—when they could stay focused on student success and curriculum delivery?

Reason #2: The New AACN Essentials Demand More Than a “DCC Add-On”

Too often, Essentials work gets reduced to:

  • Collecting Domain Competency Checklists

  • Updating syllabi language

  • Creating a curriculum map

But real Essentials integration involves living the competencies—using them to shape teaching, assessment, and student outcomes in a way that is measurable and intentional.

A consultant can help you move beyond compliance toward transformation:

  • Connecting Essential domains/competencies to program outcomes

  • Designing and documenting competency-based activities and evaluation

  • Helping faculty see how the framework supports education—not just accreditation

Reason #3: There’s Real Cost Savings in a Targeted Partnership

Hiring a consultant isn’t a redundancy—it’s strategic.

Compare:

With a consultant, you:

  • Avoid burnout

  • Get things done faster

  • Save on long-term personnel costs

Elaine Fisher