From committee to commission: the history of the NLN's Academic Certified Nurse Educator Program.

Aim: To describe the historical events surrounding the development of the National League for Nursing (NLN) Academic Nurse Educator Certification Program (ANECP) and document its transition from a committee to a commission.

Background: During the latter half of the 20th century, certification became a demonstrated standard of excellence in nursing. A few visionaries suggested that nursing education itself was a specialty, but the timing for certification was not right.

Twenty-first century doctoral education: online with a focus on nursing education.

The acute shortage of doctorally prepared nursing faculty has prompted the nursing profession to look to new and creative ways of delivering doctoral-level preparation to currently employed nurse educators. The development of an online PhD program, based on recommended benchmark guidelines for a "best practice" approach to Internet-based education, led to a program evaluation matrix for formative and summative student advising and program review. In addition, efforts to seek the student voice in formative as well as summative evaluation provided a well-rounded plan to monitor program outcomes based on recommended benchmark guidelines.

Graduate student perceptions: feeling the passion of caring online.

The concept of caring in nursing education has been addressed with regard to traditional classroom settings. In addition, research on effective online teaching approaches, differences between online and face-to-face classroom settings, and supporting student success in online settings is readily found in published literature. The question of whether caring can be effectively conveyed in online nursing classroom settings remains unanswered.

Tracking the development of professional values in undergraduate nursing students.

In the current nursing shortage, nurses are frequently making significant patient care decisions concerning value-laden clinical issues. A program evaluation study was conducted to track professional values over time from entry into a baccalaureate program to graduation. Nursing students completed a survey measuring professional values upon entry into and exit from the program.

Mentorship: increasing retention probabilities.

Retaining nurses is a significant workforce issue. Experienced nurses in particular are getting harder to retain within hospitals and the discipline at large. One solution to boost retention is to give serious attention to professional socialization activities through contemporary nurse mentorship experiences.

Student perceptions of caring in online baccalaureate education.

The concept of caring in nursing education is foundational. Knowledge development regarding caring in face-to-face classroom settings, effective online teaching approaches, differences between online and face-to-face classroom settings, and supporting student success in online settings is extensive. However, the question of whether caring can be effectively conveyed in online nursing classroom settings remains unanswered.