CHESAPEAKE — Collins Career Center School of Nursing is pleased to announce that Kay Swartzwelder, MSN, RN has earned the designation Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) after meeting strict eligibility criteria and successfully completing a rigorous certification examination developed and administered by the National League for Nursing.

Swartzwelder is a lifelong resident of Lawrence County and has worked for Collins Career Center for 12 years.

During her time at Collins, she has served in a variety of capacities including Surgical Technology instructor, Associate Director of Nursing and Alllied Health, and now as Director of Nursing. She is presently completing a Ph.D. in Education at Capella University.

The NLN’s Academic Nurse Educator Certification (ANEC) Program has conferred new visibility and stature upon the academic nursing community, long overdue, said Dr. Beverly Malone, CEO of the NLN. “Through the certification program, we have made clear to the ranks of higher education that the role of nurse educator is an advanced professional practice discipline with a defined practice setting and demonstrable standards of excellence,” she commented. In years to come, she added, it is hoped that certified nurse educators will command higher salaries and be first in line for promotions and tenure.

The newly certified nurse educators reflect the spectrum of their academic colleagues in the United States*:

31 percent hold doctoral degrees; the remainder master’s degrees

44.2 percent teach in baccalaureate or higher degree programs; 39.5 percent in associate degree programs; 9.7 percent in diploma programs; and 5.4 percent in practical nursing programs

57.2 percent hold the rank of assistant professor or higher: 13.9 percent are full professors; 18.2 percent, associate professors; and 25.1 percent, assistant professors.

Collins Career Center is a full service Career Center operating in cooperation with the Ohio Board of Regents, a full partnership with the new University System of Ohio and is accredited by the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement.