In response to the current and on-going nursing faculty shortage, the (HSCN), with the financial support of the State of Â鶹´«Ã½, provided free, online training to clinical nursing faculty across the state.
- Related UH News story: Funding to address statewide nursing faculty shortage, October 13, 2022
Thirty nine clinical nursing faculty from all six Â鶹´«Ã½ public and private nursing schools completed the offered by the Connecticut Center for Nursing Workforce. The training provided education on improving clinical orientations, facilitating pre-clinical conference sessions, evaluation tools and implementation of success strategies. The training was offered to support specialty development for clinical faculty as the state works to build the teaching workforce.
The online training course was delivered in January 2023. Funding from the State of Â鶹´«Ã½ provided training to 100% of the requests from Â鶹´«Ã½ nursing schools. Training current clinical nursing faculty with the knowledge and skills to effectively educate and evaluate current nursing students in the clinical environment strengthens the existing workforce and improves student outcomes and academic success.
Clinical nursing faculty are licensed nurses who teach nursing students in a clinical environment. Nursing students learn in two different settings:
- Didactic instruction is lecture and activities in a classroom and offered to large groups of students with one teacher.
- Clinical instruction is hands-on learning in a real clinical setting and is offered in small groups, as dictated by the State of Â鶹´«Ã½ Board of Nursing. Currently, clinical instruction is limited to one clinical nursing faculty to eight nursing students.
HSCN thanks the State of Â鶹´«Ã½ for recognizing and supporting the current nursing workforce challenges. HSCN looks forward to the continued partnership with the state, Â鶹´«Ã½ nursing schools and employers to address the existing workforce needs of Â鶹´«Ã½.
The next Â鶹´«Ã½ cohort for the clinical faculty training course will be offered in the upcoming fiscal year. Nursing instructors who are interested in participating should contact their employer.