MSN Program Preparing Nurse Educators: Four Decades in Review Judith P. Ruland, PhD, RN, CNE Jean D. Leuner, PhD, RN, CNE

Transcription

1 MSN Program Preparing Nurse Educators: Four Decades in Review Judith P. Ruland, PhD, RN, CNE Jean D. Leuner, PhD, RN, CNE

2 Purpose Descriptive study to Document growth trends and to Review current curricular patterns in Master s level programs designed to prepare nurse educators. Annual report data from National League for Nursing [NLN] ( ) and American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN] ( ) over four decades was used to review program enrollment and graduation data. A review of Websites for all listed programs was the source of the curriculum information for this study.

3 Enrollment Evolution Nurse Educator students accounted for a large percentage of the enrollment in Master s programs until the 1980s when the advent of Nurse Practitioner education changed enrollment patterns. This is especially evident by comparing NLN data from 1968 to A 16 year sharp decline started in 1979 and ran until 1995 when it slowly started to reverse. Year # of MSN Programs Total MSN Enrollment % Enrolled in Nurse Educator Programs ,018 1,344 (33%) , (6.5%) , (1.6%)

4 Enrollment Patterns Nurse Educator Program Enrollment * NLN data, AACN data Ned. ENROLLMENT

5 Millenium Growth Growth in the number of Nurse Educator programs and enrollment in the new millennium has been an amazing phenomenon. From enrollments grew between 15 and 80% per year. Year Total # Schools with MSN Total enroll. # of Nurs Ed Prg Nurse Ed Enroll. Nurse Ed Grad Total MSN Grad , ,285 (4.0%) 278 (2.7%) 10, , ,111 (17.8%) 2,816 (16.8%) 17, , ,883 (18%) 3,175 (16.7%) 19, , ,243 (17.6%) 3,864 (17.8%) 21,730

6 Graduation Growth Nurse Educator graduates represented only 2.7% of the total # of 10,223 MSN graduates in ,864 Nurse Educator graduates in 2010 represented 17.8% of the 21,730 MSN graduates in 2010.

7 Program Growth 350 Nurse Educator Programs Nurse Ed Programs From , 193 new nurse educator programs were added at the rate of an average of new programs per year. Over , this rate slowed to 8 new programs added with an overall enrollment growth last year at 10%.

8 Questions As these programs continue to proliferate, what curricular guidelines have been applied to these programs? Are there core requirements that appear in all curricula? In addition to the core MSN courses & education courses, do the curricula offer courses in nursing specialties? What national standards for practicum hours are being applied?

9 Website Review Method List of schools with Nurse Educator Programs purchased from AACN based on Annual Report Data. The website for every one of these programs was reviewed in search of the MSN curricula. Of the 258 schools, 198 (78%) schools demonstrated their curricular plans or had attachments of the curricular plans. Only the schools with available and evident curricular plans were included in this study.

10 Website Review Method The curricula were reviewed using the curriculum model in AACN Essentials for MSN Education (1996) for : Total credit hours= 39 credit hours with range Graduate Core courses (research, theory, healthcare policy, issues/ethics; health promotion) Advanced practice nursing core ( 3 P s : Advanced pathophysiology; pharmacology; health assessment) Nursing Education ( curriculum, teaching strategies, evaluation, instructional technology, teaching practicum etc.). Clinical Specialty and evidence of required courses and clinical hours in clinical nursing specialties.

11 Findings: Graduate Core Course # of programs % of total programs Theory % Research % Health Care policy % Issues/Ethics 98 49% Role Development 97 49% Health Promotion 43 22% Legal and ethical issues are often built into the roles course according to the course descriptions.

12 Findings: Advanced Practice Core Course # of programs % of total programs Require all 3 courses 46 23% Advanced Health Assessment 81 41% Advanced Pathophysiology 96 48% Advanced Pharmacology 54 27% When programs require the advanced practice core, they tend to omit courses such as healthcare policy, role, issues and ethics.

13 Findings: Education Courses Course # of programs % of total programs Curriculum Development % Teaching strategies/instruction % Evaluation Methods % Instructional Technology 51 26% Adult Learning 38 19% Clinical Teaching 34 17% Teaching Practicum % Practicum varies in credits and hours. Some are offered throughout the program, others in concentration at the end. Hours vary from hours.

14 Specialty Courses CCNE is discussing the need for Nurse Educator programs to prepare graduates in their area of nursing specialty as well as in the area of education. AACN 2011 Master s Essentials reflects this requirement as well. What does this mean for Nurse Educator curricula? From where will these extra credits come and how will programs staff these courses?

15 Transformation of MSN 63% of all schools offering the MSN now have a Nurse Educator Track. What is the most sound model to develop an a graduate to practice as a clinical educator or in Associate Degree education? Where will the resources for teaching and clinical supervision come for the new Specialty courses that will need to be independently developed and staffed?

16 Transformation of MSN As the Nurse Practitioner and CNS and in some cases Leadership and Management tracks move to the DNP, what will be left for shared course work at the MSN core course level? How will these programs develop and change? How do we best prepare graduates for PhD education that is needed to sustain practice as a nurse educator long term? What does all of this mean in terms of standardization of such curricula?

17 Curriculum Standards NLN Nurse Educator Competencies (not specific to courses) NLN Nurse Educator Certification exam listed courses. AACN Masters Essentials (2011 document now addresses Nurse Educator Role).

18 So where do we go from here? How many credits should a MSN in Nursing Education be? What courses should be included? Who is the primary audience for the MSN in Nursing Education? Does it build appropriately to the PhD? Are there models which should be developed?

19 Thank you!