Characteristics of Candidates Who Have Taken the Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) Examination: A Two-Year Review

Abstract

The National League for Nursing's Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) credential is the only professional credential that recognizes excellence in the advanced specialty role of the academic nurse educator. The CNE examination was initially offered in September 2005 to 206 qualified faculty representing 45 states and the District of Columbia. In the two years in which it has been available, 917 candidates have taken the examination, yielding 773 certified nurse educators. Educators with the CNE credential now represent all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Eligibility Criteria The CNE credential requires full-time faculty experience and a masters or doctoral degree in nursing. The two pathways that exist for eligibility are based on educational preparation and faculty experience. To meet the criteria for Option A, nurse educators must have two years or more of full-time employment in the academic faculty role within the past five years. Further, they must possess a master's or doctoral degree in nursing with either a major emphasis in nursing education or nine or more credit hours of graduate-level education courses. Nurse educators who possess a master's or doctoral degree in nursing with a major emphasis in a role other than nursing education are eligible for Option B if they have four or more years of fulltime employment in the academic faculty role within the past five years. Of the CNE candidates, 64.8 percent met Option A criteria, and 35.2 percent met Option B criteria. Demographic Data HIGHEST DEGREE EARNED The highest degree earned by the 917 candidates had nearly even distribution: 34.3 percent of candidates reported holding doctoral degrees; 34.4 percent held master's degrees in nursing with an education focus; and 31.3 percent held master's degrees in nursing with a focus other than nursing education. To determine if the 917 candidates who took the CNE examination during this two-year period were representative of full-time nurse educators who teach in the United States, demographic data were compared to data described in Nurse Educators 2006: A Report of the Faculty Census Survey of RN and Graduate Programs (1). That report notes that nurse educators with doctoral degrees constitute 25.4 percent of the nation's faculty, and those with master's degrees constitute 68.9 percent of faculty. For CNE candidates, the percentages were comparable: 34.3 percent hold doctorates, and 65.7 percent hold master's degrees. (See Figure 1.) [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] [FIGURE 2 OMITTED] [FIGURE 3 OMITTED] [FIGURE 4 OMITTED] PRIMARY TEACHING AREA The Certified Nurse Educator examination is available to eligible candidates who teach in all levels of nursing education: practical, diploma, associate degree, baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral nursing programs. Of the candidates who took the CNE examination, 4.5 percent indicated that they taught primarily in practical nursing programs and 8.8 percent taught in diploma programs. The largest group taught in associate degree programs (39.1 percent), while 36.5 percent taught in baccalaureate programs and 11.0 percent taught primarily at the master's or doctoral level. Figure 2 provides a comparison of reported program types between CNE candidates and national faculty census data (1). It is interesting to note that while those who teach primarily in diploma programs represent 3.9 percent of the nation's faculty, they constitute 8.8 percent of the CNE candidate population. YEARS OF FULL-TIME EXPERIENCE The minimum number of years of full-time experience that a CNE candidate may have is two (within the past five years), provided the candidate possesses a master's or doctoral degree in nursing with an education focus. Of those who took the CNE examination, 23.4 percent indicated having two to five years of full-time experience; 39.5 percent reported 6 to 15 years; 25. …