This report describes the work of a task force of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the American Organization of Nurse Executives that was organized to delineate the competencies needed to provide for effective and efficient use of all workforce personnel and for more efficient use of the variety of programs that prepare nursing personnel. The resulting plan provides for rational workforce planning based on a differentiated set of nursing personnel and differentiated practice expectations for a changing health care environment. A number of conclusions and recommendations are reported, including: development of five to ten models of differentiated education/practice demonstration projects across the country; development of a core of leaders for differentiated education/practice projects; continued development of value-neutral language to describe differentiated nursing practice and education; and a plan for disseminating information about the initiative. The bulk of the document is contained in eight appendixes that provide background information for the task force's work. (Contains 58 references.) (MSE)