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“This certification is important because it is one evidence of my journey toward becoming an excellent nursing educator,” explained Wagner. “It is evidence of one part of my preparation and signifies my growing expertise in the area of nursing education.”

About Wagner
Wagner holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Delaware and a Master of Science in Nursing Education from the University of Phoenix. Her areas of expertise in nursing practice include obstetrics (OB) and psychiatry. Previously, Wagner served as an adjunct clinical instructor and associate professor at North Central State College.

In the nursing field, she has been a labor and delivery nurse at Wooster Community Hospital, Riverside Methodist Hospital and MedCentral Health Systems. Wagner has also worked in home health care, as a charge nurse, office nurse, surgical recovery room staff nurse and pediatric emergency room nurse.

She resides in Mansfield, Ohio, with her husband. In addition to teaching at MVNU, she currently works as a PRN staff nurse at Wooster Community Hospital in the OB department.

Certified Nurse Educator
The NLN’s CNE program has conferred new visibility and stature upon the academic nursing community, long overdue, said Dr. Beverly Malone, CEO of the NLN. “Through the certification program, we have made clear to the ranks of higher education that the role of nurse educator is an advanced professional practice discipline with a defined practice setting and demonstrable standards of excellence,” she commented. In years to come, she added, it is hoped that certified nurse educators will command higher salaries and be first in line for promotions and tenure.

The newly certified nurse educators reflect the spectrum of their academic colleagues in the United States:
• Thirty-seven percent hold doctoral degrees; the remainder master’s degrees
• Forty-nine percent teach in baccalaureate or higher degree programs; 39 percent in associate degree programs; 8 percent in diploma programs; and 4 percent in practical nursing programs
• Sixty-four percent hold the rank of assistant professor or higher: 18 percent are full professors; 24 percent, associate professors; and 22 percent, assistant professors
• Forty-one percent have more than 15 years experience as academic nurse educators.

With nearly half (45 percent) projected to retire within the next decade and nearly three-quarters (72 percent) within 15 years, replacing them is of grave concern, noted NLN president Dr. Elaine Tagliareni. “We must encourage more nurse faculty to prepare for certification as nurse educators so that our nursing schools can be staffed by academicians of the highest caliber. Only in this way can excellence in nursing education be ensured for another generation.”

Fore more information about the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at MVNU, please contact (740) 392-6868, ext. 4341.

Mount Vernon Nazarene University is a private, four-year, intentionally Christian teaching university for traditional age students, graduate students and working adults. U.S. News & World Report ranks MVNU in the top 50 Best in the Midwest (Bachelor’s-Comprehensive) institutions for the third year in a row. With a 400-acre main campus in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and eight additional satellite Adult and Graduate Studies campuses throughout the state, MVNU emphasizes academic excellence, spiritual growth and service to community and church. MVNU offers an affordable education to more than 2,670 students from 27 states and six countries/U.S. territories.