Maryland’s Higher Education Secretary, Dr. James D. Fielder, announced that $95,000 was awarded to full-time nurse faculty at higher education institutions in Maryland to promote best practices in nursing education.
Each of the 19 nurse faculty who received the Academic Nurse Educator Certification (ANEC) award will receive $5,000 to complete the professional development and continuing education requirements to maintain their Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) credential, which is a symbol of expertise in the specialty practice of nursing education.
“These awards offer nursing faculty a competitive edge through continuing education, as well as the ability to receive additional certification,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “This will allow our nurses to stay on the cutting edge of technology and help keep our nurse faculty right here in Maryland.”
The Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) Nurse Support Program II (NSP II) provides funding for the awards, which is based on faculty who demonstrated excellence as an academic nurse educator through achieving and maintaining the National League for Nursing’s (NLN’s) Certified Nurse
Educator (CNE) credential. The recipients were nominated by their own institutions, which included five community colleges and seven universities throughout Maryland:
- Allegany College of Maryland
- Anne Arundel Community College
- Bowie State University
- Frostburg State University
- Harford Community College
- Howard Community College
- Notre Dame of Maryland University
- Stevenson University
- Towson University
- University of Maryland, Baltimore
- Washington Adventist University
- Wor-Wic Community College
“Maryland’s nurse faculty are responsible for educating Maryland’s future nurses to be mentally, physically, and emotionally ready to face the new health-care demands brought on by the pandemic,” Secretary Fielder said. “This award allows each faculty member an innovative opportunity to create
higher standards for nursing education.”
Since inception of the ANEC award in 2019, a total of 144 full-time nurse faculty completed the requirements to be recognized as Certified Nurse Educators (CNEs). In order to renew, faculty must demonstrate continued excellence in the specialty practice of nursing education.
NSP II has sponsored two NLN CNE Workshops with Diane Billings, Ed.D, RN, ANEF, FAAN, a nationally recognized leader in nursing education in FY 2022. These 8-hour workshops offer a review of the NLN Nurse Educator Competencies and a blueprint for faculty test preparation for successful achievement of the CNE credential. NSP II has a statewide goal to increase the number of full-time faculty with the credential to 300 nurse faculty by 2025.
“We will continue to pursue the highest standards for student success in Maryland’s nursing programs by increasing the number of certified nurse educators in the state and demonstrating excellence in nursing education,” said Dr. Peg E. Daw, NSP II Administrator.
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