You’re Already a NP Practice Expert, Now Develop Yourself as a NP Educator

The Clinical Nurse Educator Academy is a professional development program funded by HRSA to increase the Nursing Education workforce in clinical settings. As Nurse Practitioners (NPs), we may not have been formally educated in our graduate programs in the theories and competencies of a nurse educator. Yet, we often serve as Preceptors and sometimes as faculty with Schools of Nursing. As the NP workforce continues to expand rapidly, we should be educated in the knowledge, skills, and abilities of a Nurse Educator. Developing our clinical educator competencies will help us to become more confident, structure learning experiences for learners, and mitigate the risk of slowing our productivity down during patient care.

The National League for Nursing (NLN) defines a clinical nurse educator as one who: Is responsible for facilitating learning primarily in a clinical setting; Reports to an academic program of nursing education; and Has input into the assessments of the learner’s clinical performance (NLN, 2018). These activities are associated with the role of a clinical faculty member who may work with a School of Nursing part-time or as adjunct faculty; and the role of a clinical preceptor who is primarily employed by a clinical agency. Nevertheless, both clinical educators carry out the same functions.

Through our partnership with NONPF and NPACE, this program provides NPs with 14.75 continuing education credits at no cost and is designed using a competency-based framework that facilitates your development in the competencies of a clinical educator. The program is all online and asynchronous to meet your needs for learning and thereby allows you to complete it at your own pace. The curriculum integrates the following national standards that NPs will benefit from:

• National League for Nursing (NLN) competencies for the clinical nurse educator
• American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s (AACN) new Essentials for professional nursing (Levels 1 & 2)
• Interprofessional Education and Collaboration (IPEC) standards
• Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards
• TeamSTEPPS competencies
• National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) core competencies for the Nurse Practitioner role
• This program will help you learn to facilitate learning in the clinical environment, assess diverse learners’ abilities as a NP, and model leadership and communication skills needed for NP practice.

Even better, as funds are available, you can earn $850 for completing the program and, after successfully completing the Certified Nurse Educator-clinical exam through the NLN, you can partner with us to earn $4000 per year by serving as a clinical faculty with a School of Nursing or clinical preceptor with a clinical agency in a rural or medically underserved area. The stipends are made available through the Nurse Education, Practice, Quality, and Retention Clinical Faculty Preceptor Academy grant website is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $2,697,466.

This grant funded program aims to strengthen clinical nursing education, increase the number of clinical nurse educators, and retain a workforce of clinical nurse educators. I hope that these efforts significantly support you in the development of and retention as a clinical nurse educator.

For more information, click here. Register now by clicking here!

Email us at: CNEAcademy@lsuhsc.eduhttps://nursing.lsuhsc.edu/cne