Certificate Programs
Post-Graduate Certificate Program in Nursing Education
The Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education is a non-degree graduate certificate program designed to provide graduate-prepared nurses with preparation for the academic nurse educator role.
The coursework includes preparation for the National League for Nursing’s Certified Nurse Educator Exam (CNE®). To achieve the Certificate, students need to complete all 12 credits. The courses are designed to stand alone, making it possible for any graduate-prepared nurse or graduate nursing student to complete one or more courses.
The courses will be delivered in an asynchronous online format, except for 838D (3cr): Becoming a Nurse Educator: Skills and Strategies Teaching Fellowship. This course includes 135 hours of field experiences, delivered over a full semester, whereas the other coursework is delivered over 8-week sessions. The teaching fellowship course (838D) runs the full semester to allow students to engage in field experiences typically offered at various times throughout a full academic semester (e.g., curriculum committee meetings, faculty meetings, teaching all or portions of courses, etc.).
Program Outcomes
- Create evidence and values-based curricula, using the philosophy and science of nursing education.
- Implement teaching/learning practices, inclusive of contemporary pedagogies and the scholarship of teaching and learning.
- Construct assessment, evaluation, and testing measures for courses and program evaluation.
- Demonstrate academic leadership in the design and delivery of nursing education.
Admission Requirements
- Application to the Post-Graduate Nursing Education Certificate program
- Official transcripts from an accredited graduate nursing program
- Current abbreviated curriculum vitae or a resume
- Unencumbered nursing license
- Brief description of nursing education career goals
- Letter of recommendation if requested
- A pre-admission interview with the certificate program director
Nurse Educator Certificate Coursework
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Fall Semester
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NURS 835D (3cr): The Teaching of Nursing and Curricular Design
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First 8 weeks
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NURS 836D (3cr): Facilitating Learning in Nursing Education
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Second 8 weeks
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Spring Semester
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NURS 837D (3cr): Assessment, Evaluation, and Testing in Nursing Education
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First 8 weeks
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NURS 838D (3cr): Becoming a Nurse Educator: Skills and Strategies Fellowship
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16 weeks
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Course Descriptions
NURS 835D: The Teaching of Nursing and Curricular Design (3cr)
This course develops students’ competencies in the role of the nurse educator, including role transition, the nurse educator's scope of practice, and leadership within the academic environment. There will be an emphasis on the nurse educator’s role in curriculum and course design and development within the values, ethos, and ethics of higher education and nursing programs within academic institutions. While the emphasis of the course is on academic nursing practice, the role of the nurse as patient and staff educator also is explored.
NURS 836D: Facilitating Learning in Nursing Education (3cr)
This course develops students’ competencies in facilitating learning within the context of evidence-based and ethical teaching practices for diverse student populations. There is an emphasis on time-tested and innovative educational theories and teaching strategies to enable engaged learning for the development of practice-ready resilient nurses, which includes educational technologies. Students will learn how to translate teaching efforts into the scholarship of teaching and learning. While the emphasis of the course is on academic nursing practice, the role of the nurse as patient and staff educator also is explored.
NURS 837D: Assessment, Evaluation, and Testing in Nursing Education (3cr)
This course develops students’ competencies in assessment, evaluation, and testing in nursing education. Students will learn evidence-based standards and policies related to assessment, evaluation, and testing, including test construction and clinical performance evaluations. There is an emphasis on developing nurse educator and student resilience and ethical teaching practice for diverse learners within the high-stakes testing milieu of nursing education. While the emphasis of the course is on academic nursing practice, the role of the nurse as patient and staff educator also is explored.
NURS 838D: Becoming a Nurse Educator: Skills and Strategies Fellowship (3cr)
This course advances the development of students’ nursing education competencies in the theories, concepts, principles, and practices of curriculum design and development, teaching/learning methods, and/or assessment, evaluation, and testing. Students will have a nurse educator mentor and engage in academic leadership experiences. They will also select nursing education competencies to further develop, creating practical applications for them in a nursing education setting through tailor-made fellowships with expert nurse educators. While the emphasis of the course is on academic nursing practice, the role of the nurse as patient and staff educator also is explored.
Postgraduate Certificate Nurse Practitioner School of Nursing Options
The Conway School of Nursing's Postgraduate Certificate Nurse Practitioner options are nationally accredited by CCNE and offered in all population-specific areas. They allow nurses with a graduate degree to complete additional coursework and clinical experiences necessary to be eligible for population-specific nurse practitioner national certification exams. These postgraduate certificate programs meet the most recent nurse practitioner program and curricular guidelines endorsed by NTF, AACN, NONPF, and AFPNP.
Program plans are designed based on GAP analyses conducted for each student. The plans vary in length based upon the student's past academic and clinical portfolio and the most recent requirements of the nurse practitioner population. Recipients receive a Postgraduate Certificate from the Conway School of Nursing, and their University transcript documents completion of all certificate requirements. Students in a School of Nursing Postgraduate Certificate Option are bound by all the policies and regulations for students in the MSN degree. program, including those for admission, progression, graduation, and clinical practice.
The following Postgraduate Nurse Practitioner Certificate programs are offered: Postgraduate Certificate for Family Nurse Practitioner; Postgraduate Certificate for Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner;Postgraduate Certificate for Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner; Postgraduate Certificate for Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner; and Postgraduate Certificate for Primary and Acute Care (Dual) Pediatric Nurse Practitioner.