10-15-2023 EDU - Flipbook - Page 5
The Baltimore Sun | Sunday, October 15, 2023
Helping
fill a
critical
need
Area programs
address education
shortages
By Linda L. Esterson, Contributing Writer
A
ccording to the Maryland Hospital
Association’s 2022 State of Maryland
Health Care Workforce Report, a
significant nursing shortage remains
for Maryland hospitals, with 25% of
nursing positions, totaling about 5,000, vacant.
The report, which estimates shortages doubling
or even tripling by 2035, blames high staff
turnover, shifting care delivery models and an
insufficient talent pipeline. The coronavirus
pandemic also played a part.
The American Association of Colleges of
Nursing (AACN) also attributes the shortage
to a lack of faculty to educate students interested in nursing careers. A Special Survey on
Vacant Faculty Positions released by AACN in
October 2022 revealed that a total of 2,166 fulltime faculty vacancies were identified based
on responses from 909 U.S. nursing schools
with baccalaureate and/or graduate programs.
In addition, the schools cited a need to create
an additional 128 faculty positions to accommodate student demand and does not account
for the number of faculty members who plan
to retire.
The University of Maryland School of
Nursing is working to address the pipeline
shortage, particularly when it comes to nursing
faculty. The university is offering a graduate
teaching in nursing and health professions
certificate to prepare licensed nurses and other
health professionals to become teachers.
“Just as we're trying to orient new nurses
to practice as quickly as we can, we have to
get faculty prepared as fast as we can,” explains
Susan Bindon, D.N.P., associate dean for faculty development and program director of the
teaching in nursing and health professions
certificate at the University of Maryland School
Nancy McAlduff recently completed UMSON's graduate teaching in nursing and health professions certificate.
of Nursing. “Frankly, if there's no faculty, there
are no students. If there are no students, there
are no nurses. If there are no nurses, there's no
workforce.”
Nurses with advanced degrees and specialty
practice experience are ideal candidates for
the teaching certificate program, as they can
share real-world knowledge with the nursing
students and can serve as preceptors during
student clinical experiences. The program comprises 12 credits, with two foundation courses,
one elective and a three-credit practicum, during which they teach side-by-side with an
expert instructor in an area with which they
have experience, either in the classroom, online
or in a clinical setting. The cohorts are small,
with up to eight students in a group, hence the
need for more faculty.
Students could complete the program in as
little as a year, Bindon says.
“The opportunity to contribute in this way
as a nursing faculty to not only share your
expertise but to influence the professional trajectory of others is a privilege,” she notes “It's
thrilling to see that happen through others, but
Choose
your own
adventure.
at the same time, you’re addressing a need.”
Nancy McAlduff, D.N.P., CRNP, FNP-C,
IBCLC, R.L.C., completed the program in May,
while also in her final year of her doctoral
program. She chose the introduction to nurse
faculty course as her elective, which addressed
the challenge of working in practice while serving in a faculty capacity. She recently accepted
a role as a nurse practitioner with BW Primary
Care in Carroll County and hopes to begin
teaching in a few years.
“[We] were empowered as students to do
a lot of research and talked to many different
faculty members, sat in on faculty meetings and
had an opportunity to see what it's really like to
be an educator,” she says. “There is a lot more to
being a teacher in a nursing program or graduate program than meets the eye as a student. I
found it really illuminating.”
McAlduff was paired with a faculty mentor and co-taught a course in maternal-child
nursing, an area of interest to her. “I was able
to teach about things that I'm very passionate
about and that I felt knowledgeable about. I was
able to dive even deeper into that nurse faculty
START
HERE
role experience than in my elective course. The
teaching certificate program gave the background, the knowledge and the information,
to be able to go out and support students in a
way that I did not feel prepared to do before. I
think it really benefits the students as well as
the school programs to have faculty who have
background knowledge about learning theory
and evaluation. It makes perfect sense.”
Towson University is also addressing the
need to support experienced workers. The
accomplished teaching for student impact program at Towson University, created in partnership with Howard County Public Schools and
the Howard County Education Association,
aims to support teachers during a time of
attrition. According to the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics, nearly half of public education
employees working in elementary, secondary
and postsecondary institutions who left the
field in March, did so voluntarily. Teachers are
feeling burnt out and unsupported.
Funded through the Maryland State
Department
of
Education’s
Teacher
Collaborative Grant, the graduate certificate
program is focused on preparing teachers for
national board certification to advance their
careers, earn higher salaries and assume leadership positions within the profession.
According to Beth Singleton, Ph.D., program director for the accomplished teaching for
student impact program at Towson University,
explains that the program was designed to support the growing number of teachers interested
in pursuing national certification beyond their
initial licensure.
“The national board process is to recognize accomplished teaching,” Singleton says.
The National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards certification process involves a personal examination of their own teaching methods, creation of a portfolio demonstrating their
approach and successful completion of a test,
validating their level of teaching accomplishment.
The Towson certificate program was
designed by national-board-certified teachers
in collaboration with university staff and faculty to provide the best support for certification candidates, Singleton explains. Instruction
spans two years, with teaching enrolling in one
course over each of four semesters. The first
component provides foundational instruction
on the national board with subsequent components focused on the standards and later the
portfolio development.
The program is offered through 11 cohorts
in Howard County, with two of them offered on
a hybrid basis with biweekly in-person meetings at Centennial High School. This fall, multiagency cohorts also were opened for teachers
in Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County,
Montgomery County and Harford County, in
Education shortage,
continued on page 9
AACC
OPEN
HOUSE
Wednesday, Nov. 1
5-8 p.m. | Arnold
WHAT DOES
COLLEGE
LOOK LIKE
TO YOU?
5
NO NEED TO GUESS!
We’re rolling out the red carpet and invite you to start your adventure
at our open house. Tour our campus, meet with faculty and students,
talk with admissions and financial aid representatives. Experience
hands-on demonstrations, visit classrooms and labs, and learn more
about our degrees, certificates and skilled trades programs.
We have something for everyone, from kids to seniors. Bring the
family and let AACC show you how you can redefine yourself and work
toward the future you want.
REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED.
To let us know you’re coming and for more
information visit www.aacc.edu/open-house.
RSVP is strongly encouraged.
ANNE ARUNDEL COMMUNITY COLLEGE
