FYI: http://www.csuohio.edu/class/com/cle...py/120509.html

The school of nursing is adding a specialization track to the doctoral program in Nursing Education in collaboration with theMaxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, which is going to prepare nurses to take on faculty roles in schools of nursing. The program is part of the university’s emphasis on health education under President Berkman’s leadership.

Cleveland State will be the first university in Northeast Ohio to have PhD in nursing that focuses on nursing education. This program focuses on nurses using their skills to help educate other students, while other universities focus on nursing research. If a student is interested in this type of program they would have had to go outside of Ohio.

The proposal for the PhD gave the reason that the program is needed is based on three factors. The first is the demand of nurses in the workplace. The second is the shortage of schools that accept students that are qualified and want to be a nurse. The last is the lack of faculty in the nursing field. With more faculties in the nursing field it will be easier to teach more students which will put more nurses in places needed.

The director of the School of Nursing, Vida Lock, believes this program is definitely needed here at Cleveland State.

“There is a dramatic shortage of nursing faculty prepared at the doctoral level,” Lock said, “In order to supply the community with nurses needed, schools of nurses must increase their output. This cannot be done without a sufficient number of qualified faculty members to teach the students.”

The proposal letter also gave insight as to why the program will be important to the community. With the program being in Urban Education, it will help the university’s urban mission, which is to advance the skills and education of all people in the community.

The doctoral program will also help Cleveland’s health care scene and advance public knowledge of urban population.

Graduates of this program, the future students and people in the community will benefit from the knowledge learned.

“The main goal of this program is to prepare faculty for Schools of Nursing,” Lock said, “Having more faculty will allow schools to accept and graduate more nurses.”

A professor at the School of Nursing, Cheryl Delgado, is very excited to see the program start.

“I am very excited by the program,” Delgado said, “I was involved in some of the planning and hope to see a nursing doctoral student hooded before I retire. I think we are in the right place, at the right time and with the right program.”

This doctoral program will consist of five classes. There are six full- time faculty members that have the qualifications to teach any of these courses.

Applications for nurses who want to apply will not be accepted after the first Monday in February. The program is said to begin in the Fall semester of 2010.