DU's Web-Based Nurse Educator Certificate Aims to Boost Teacher Numbers
Lack of Educators to Blame for Nursing Shortage
Nurse Educators are now a highly qualified set of professionals that are no longer the exclusive possession of nursing schools. Educators are employed in an increasing array of professional settings, from hospitals, to public health, and even health insurance environments.
The post-masters certificates offered through Duquesne University in Pennsylvania allow professional nurses to explore an even deeper level of expertise in an intensive, online nurse education curriculum. This 12-credit program is designed to work both synchronously and asynchronously. Students, for the most part, have the typical flexibility to work assignments at their own pace, but a few do require participation in real-time virtual classrooms and/or chat sessions.
Requirements
Candidates may apply for the Nurse Educator certificate program in the Fall and Spring. Only a select number of applicants are accepted. RNs must prove a valid license and show proof of a complete Masters of Science in Nursing degree for admission.
Self-motivation is a primary necessity for completion of assignments and projects. Students must have access to the Internet, a computer, and basic skills necessary to navigate a curriculum management system.
Curriculum
The mission of the Nurse Educator certificate is to train advanced practice nurses to design, develop, administer, and evaluate targeted educational curriculums. "Targeted" indicates understanding and recognizing the needs and capabilities of particular populations.
Specific Nurse Educator coursework includes: teaching and learning basics, curriculum design, and employment of effective evaluation methods. Six additional credits are optional and designed for nurses that plan to continue working clinically, as well as in educator roles: nursing pharmacology and pathophysiology.
Career Opportunity
Professional nurses must be willing and able to work with a diverse population of people: healthcare specialists, staff nurses, individuals and groups of patients, and even with particular sets of business and industry professionals. Many educators work outside a classroom, devising patient education, community education and continuing education for nurses and other healthcare workers.
Duquesne University is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Nursing School was established in the mid 1930s and has continued to be a healthcare leader within the region.