Nursing educators are in demand. This graduate certificate program will prepare the next generation of nurse educators for academic and clinical settings.

You can impact the future of nursing care by learning to share your knowledge and skills. You can augment your existing clinical master’s degree by adding the knowledge and skills needed to function as a qualified nursing educator.

You will learn to:

• Promote evidence-based teaching and learning practices through problem identification and the critique of research findings.
• Collaborate in policy development, resource management, and cost-effective program delivery.
• Apply legal and ethical principles to promote professional practice in nursing education.
• Affect health care outcomes through the advanced roles of clinician and teacher.
• Use theories from nursing and other disciplines for decision making.
• Provide leadership in education in clinical and academic settings.

Courses will help you:

• Design a nursing education curriculum that demonstrates knowledge of curriculum alignment, teaching philosophy, target audience, teaching/learning strategies, and program evaluation.
• Apply systematic processes to guide evaluation strategies for assessing achievement of course and program outcomes expected of learning and the profession.
• Create appropriate teaching and learning materials and apply the appropriate uses of technology to meet specified program and course outcomes.
• Function as a leader in nursing education to recognize and facilitate the need for change as a means of quality improvement.

Admission Requirements

• Current unencumbered licensure to practice as a registered nurse
• Admission to the University of Arkansas Graduate School
• Completion of a graduate degree in nursing from a nationally accredited program
• A 3.0 cumulative GPA on the last 60.0 credit hours of attempted coursework in previous nursing program
• Basic computer and library skills including the use of electronic databases
• A letter of recommendation from a peer
• Completion of candidate interview
• Qualified applicants will be admitted on a space available basis
• Additional Information

Courses

• NURS 5073 - Curriculum Design and Development in Nursing Education
• NURS 5083 - Methods of Assessment and Evaluation in Nursing Education
• NURS 5093 - Instructional Design and Delivery in Nursing Education
• NURS 5343 - Specialty Development I (last course in the sequence)

The four courses above also apply to the Master of Science in Nursing with a concentration in nursing education, which requires 39 to 42 credit hours, depending on whether the student completes a thesis.