Nursing, Nursing Non-Clinical , Exam Prep
The Ins and Outs of Being a CNE®cl
Jun 19, 2019
(With excerpts from Certified Academic Clinical Nurse Educator (CNE®cl) Review Manual, by Ruth A. Wittmann-Price PhD, RN, CNS, CNE, CHSE, ANEF, FAAN, Karen K. Gittings DNP, RN, CNE, Alumnus CCRN and Linda Wilson PhD, RN, CPAN, CAPA, BC, CNE, CHSE, CHSE-A, ANEF, FAAN
Thinking about the next step in your career? The nursing profession is a robust field, with certifications running the gamut of clinical, managerial, and educational specialties. But which is the best choice for you? Here, we’ll take a deep dive into what it means to be a Certified Academic Clinical Nurse Educator.
Being a CNE®cl: What Does It Mean?
Known often by its acronym, CNEcl, a Certified Academic Clinical Nurse Educator teaches nursing students clinical components of an academic nursing program.
What Does a CNEcl Do?
An academic CNEcl teaches students through clinical experiences. A CNEcl should exhibit a range of characteristics in order to be as effective as possible. These include serving as a positive role model of the nursing profession through being empathetic, supportive, non-judgmental, calm, and approachable to those going through nursing programs. They should also demonstrate a passion for teaching, learning, and the field of nursing in general, which serve as important motivating and inspirational factors for learners.
A being a CNE®cl means that you will also act to facilitate learner development and socialization. This means providing an environment that promotes cognitive, psychomotor, and affective learning. They will assist students in a self-reflection process to help them determine their goals within the profession, realize limitations, and develop ways to improve their practice. CNEcls are most often the first ones to realize when learners are not adjusting well to their role as a future nurse, and they’ll have to recommend appropriate advisement or counseling if needed.
In addition to the above, this certification requires nurse educators to give timely, constructive, objective, and fair written feedback to learners. They’ll be a part of curriculum design and evaluation of program outcomes, function as a change agent and leader, and consistently focus on quality improvement in the nurse educator role.
While CNEcl’s will be seen as mentors to learners, they will certainly have to maintain professional boundaries and stick to program and clinical agency policies, procedures and standards of practice.
How Do I Become a CNEcl?
To become a CNEcl, the first step is to become a Registered Nurse. You’ll then need a combination of education and experience in order to qualify to take the CNEcl exam through the National League for Nursing (NLN), which you can learn more about here. The computerized CNEcl exam consists of 130 scored multiple-choice questions.
Are You Preparing for the Exam?
For more study options, check out our book and app, featuring (# of questions in book) practice questions to help you make the grade!
References:
National League for Nursing. (n.d.). CNE®cl. Retrieved from http://www.nln.org/Certification-for-Nurse-Educators/cnecl
Wittmann-Price, R. A., Wilson, L., & Gittings, K. K. (2019). Certified Academic Clinical Nurse Educator (CNE®cl) Review Manual. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.