At the end of 2016, the NLN Academic Nurse Educator Certification (CNE) program proudly announced that the NLN has certified more than 5,300 nurse educators. This academic nurse certification program, now celebrating its 11th year, establishes nursing education as a specialty area of practice and creates a means for faculty to demonstrate their expertise in this role.
Certification in any field is a mark of professionalism. For academic nurse educators, certification communicates to students, peers, and the academic and health care communities that the highest standards of excellence are being met. By becoming credentialed as a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE), nurse educators serve as leaders and role models in their institutions and throughout the professional nursing community.
The mission of the CNE program is to promote excellence in the advanced specialty role of the academic nurse educator. The goals of the program are as follows:
* To distinguish academic nursing education as a specialty area of practice and an advanced practice role within professional nursing;
* To recognize the academic nurse educator's specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities and excellence in practice;
* To strengthen the use of core competencies of nurse educator practice; and
* To contribute to nurse educators' professional development.
HISTORY
From the program's conception in 2002, when the NLN convened a task group to develop academic nurse educator competencies; to the first pilot examination, administered in 2005 at the NLN Education Summit in Baltimore; to the evolution of the CNE Commission, with a Board of Commissioners; to the first approval of certification by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), a division of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence, in 2008; the program has surpassed expectations for championing the vital role of the academic nurse educator. In 2013, recertification of the program resulted in another five years of NCCA approval.
An exciting recent development has been the opening of the CNE program to global testers. The NLN has affiliated with CGFNS International, Inc. (http://www.cgfns.org) for validation of eligibility credentials for potential candidates from the international community. As said by NLN president Dr. Anne Bavier, "This partnership has been borne out of long years of collaboration and the complementary strengths that each organization will bring to making the CNE credential available and accessible to nurse educators seeking this leadership recognition in their respective countries." To date, nurse educators in Estonia, the Bahamas, and Germany have successfully passed the CNE examination. Nurse faculty outside the United States seeking certification must first apply to CGFNS to have their qualifications evaluated for eligibility. Once approved, faculty may apply to the NLN for authorization to take the CNE examination.
DEVELOPING A NEW EXAMINATION
In 2015, the NLN convened a task group to identify competencies for the role of the clinical nurse instructor. These competencies and related task statements were based on current evidence-based literature and developed by educators from both education and practice. In fall 2016, the competencies were presented to the NLN Board of Governors for consideration of creating a new certification examination for clinical nurse educators. The work has now been delegated to the CNE Commission and will proceed through 2017. An NLN publication is also being developed by members of the task group to provide a comprehensive summary of the competencies; it will be available prior to completion of the competency examination. Look for announcements of the examination with a current target date of 2018.
SUMMARY
The NLN is proud and confident that the Academic Nurse Educator Certification program offers quality certification for nurse educators and will continue to meet its goal to advance nurse educator specialty practice. The CNE Board of Commissioners strives to maintain a quality program and pursue new opportunities to enhance the program in the future. More information about the program is available on the NLN website: http://www.nln.org/professional-development-programs/Certification-for-Nurse-Edu.