33% of Washington’s residents identify as a racial or ethnic minority, but according to recent data, only 18% of Washington’s full-time nursing faculty identify as a racial or ethnic minority. And only 10% identify as male. Diversifying the state’s nursing educator workforce to reflect that of the state’s population is an important step in supporting diverse nursing students and increasing health equity in Washington.
This video series includes:
Watch the short video below to meet the So You Want to be a Profesor video series presenters.
The WCN is committed to creating a strong and diverse nurse faculty workforce. So You Want to be a Professor introduces participants to nursing education as a career and the different and surprising paths nurse educators can take.
Who should register? Practicing nurses and nursing students from underrepresented communities interested in pursuing the nurse educator path.
This workshop will:
• Identify the requirements and competencies to teach in a nursing program.
• Describe the roles and expectations of a nursing professor in teaching, research, and service.
• Discuss the paths to becoming a nurse educator in Washington.
For more information on the workshop, contact Frank Kohel at info@wcnursing.org
This workshop is made possible by a grant from Premera Blue Cross.
As a result of evaluation surveys from the September 2020 So You Want to be a Professor workshop, we learned that participants were also interested in building their job-seeking skills. This feedback led WCN to work with Waldron to develop a series of skills seminars.
Upcoming skills seminars (click on the image below to open the flyer as a PDF).
Tips for Interview Success Seminar
Our next Presentation Success Seminar will be announced soon.
Click the link to register in advance, (registration closed)
Tips for Interview Presentation Success Seminar
Our next Presentation Success Seminar will be announced soon.
Click the link to register in advance, (registration closed)
For questions email, email, Frank Kohel, at frankk@wcnursing.org.
In 2019, WCN piloted a three-day workshop called, So You Want to be a Professor. The goal of these workshops was to increase interest in nursing education as a career, particularly among underrepresented students and practicing nurses.
From experienced nursing faculty who represented diverse populations or had experience in nursing workforce diversity and health equity, students learned about how to build a career path towards nursing education including, the unique aspects of nursing education as a career, degree requirements and the variety of practice environments. The 2019 workshops were held at a community and technical college (Green River College), a public research university (University of Washington-Seattle), and a four- year private university (Seattle Pacific University). At the end of the workshop, participants completed a simple evaluation and feedback was very positive. Both faculty and students urged WCN to repeat the workshop.
So You Want to be a Professor also encourages participation from students and nurses interested in the high demand areas of psych/mental, integrated, and rural health nursing education.
The experienced pilot workshop faculty will serve as trainers for future workshops and workshops will also be held in central and eastern Washington. WCN coordinates with the Council on Nursing Education in Washington State (CNEWS) to find schools interested in participating in the So You Want to Be a Professor workshops. Thanks to the many schools that have expressed interest in hosting our next round of workshops!
In addition, the University of Washington is working with WCN to develop a program evaluation, which seeks to measure changes in participant’s attitudes toward nursing education as a career and provide guidance on program improvement.
So You Want to Be a Professor comes from the work of the WCN Diversity Advisory Committee. WCN convenes the WCN Diversity Advisory Committee as an advisory committee formed of leaders from state ethnic nursing associations including; the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Association for Nurses of African Heritage, the Western Washington Chapter of the National Hispanic Nurses Association, the Filipino and Professional Health Care Association of Washington, the Pacific Northwest Chinese Nurses Association and the Samoan Nurses Association. Nurse scholars experienced in the area of equity and diversity also contribute to the committee. This committee is key to developing strategies to increase nursing diversity in nursing education.
Currently, workshop faculty and the WCN Diversity Advisory Committee are meeting with schools interested in the next phase of the program. And WCN will post details (dates, times, locations, etc.) of the next workshops right here as they come available.
If you have any questions about the workshops or would like to be added to a communication list to receive workshop information updates, please email Frank Kohel at frankk@wcnursing.org.
WCN’s article in the Seattle Times promotes the rewarding career of nurse educators.