Campus NewsUtah's Westminster College Offers New Masters of Science in Nursing EducationTweetJune 28, 2005 Article appearing in Rn.com Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah, will offer a new master's of science degree in Nursing Education (MSNED) beginning this fall, in an effort to address the shortage of qualified nursing educators in Utah and nationally. According to a recent report by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, U.S. nursing schools turned away more than 32,000 qualified applicants to baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2004, and more than three quarters (76.1 percent) of the nursing schools pointed to faculty shortages as a reason for not accepting all qualified applicants into their nursing programs. The new MSNED program at Westminster will be the only one in the state that prepares registered nurses for teaching both at the college level and in staff development roles, such as clinical nurse educators and preceptors, within various types of health care organizations. Jean Dyer, Ph.D., RN, dean of Westminster College School of Nursing and Health Sciences, said that Utah has a number of nurse educators who have not had a formal background in teaching, which has left many learning as they go and extending the learning curve. Many nurses are natural teachers...but we want to help teachers in higher education and staff development to be effective educators. In addition to offering a master's degree, the new program has been designed as a two-phase program that will give registered nurses the option of solely earning a Nurse Educator Certificate during the first five courses (15 credits) of the program. Dyer said this might be an option for nurses who already have a master's degree in nursing, such as a nurse practitioner or nurse midwife, and choose to supplement their degrees so they have the skills and confidence to teach. In order to complete the master's degree, students will take two additional semesters of coursework. Dyer said nurses who already have baccalaureate degrees and have an interest in teaching can choose to earn the master's degree in education, which meets the minimal requirement to teach. "It's meeting the needs of those who don't want to go on for their doctorate [but] who want to be qualified to be teachers," she said. "We're hoping [this program] will help people wanting to go into teaching by introducing nurses to nurse education in a practical way." This fall, the two-year master's program will be offered to 15 students as part of a pilot program, which has been designed to teach students how to enhance student and teacher roles through a variety of courses, seminars and research opportunities. Dyer said, it's more unique than the traditional master's in nursing education and we're hoping that it meets the needs of multiple nurses out there. For more information, visit the Westminster College Web site. Nurse Educator Certificate Corporate Discount For more information, call the Westminster College's School of Nursing at (801) 832-2150. |
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