Faculty Named Certified Nurse Educators

Two Fairmont State University nursing faculty members have earned the designation Certified Nurse Educator after successfully completing a rigorous certification examination developed and administered by the National League for Nursing.

Linda Turchin, RN, MSN, CNE, and Veronica Gallo, RN, MSN, CNE, faculty members in FSU's School of Nursing and Allied Health Administration, are two of 12 Certified Nurse Educators in the state of West Virginia. The National League for Nursing (NLN) unveiled the CNE program in 2005. As of March 31, 2008, a total of 954 nurse educators, representing every state, have earned the CNE credential nationwide.

Turchin has been a nurse educator for almost 20 years. Her experience has included working in hospital-based staff development roles, as well as coordinating and teaching EMT, paramedic and certified nursing assistant programs. Turchin's practice has also included community and client education with a focus on maternal-child issues and gestational diabetes management. She joined the nursing faculty in 2002 and is currently an Assistant Professor of Nursing, teaching primarily in the Associate Degree Nursing program. Her academic teaching experience as been in both clinical and classroom settings, with a focus on the fundamentals, the nursing of the adult and psychiatric nursing. Turchin has also been involved with the nursing program's online nursing trends and ethics of nursing courses.    

Turchin has been a contributor, item writer and reviewer for both print and electronic nursing resources for Elsevier Inc., F.A. Davis, Lippincott, Pearson and Assessment Technologies Institute (ATI), as well is a consultant for the National League for Nursing, presenting workshops and creating test items for the organization's Certified Nurse Educator certification examination. She resides in Fairmont.

Veronica Gallo currently works as an Assistant Professor of Nursing at FSU, where she teaches Adult Health content to Associate Degree Nursing students. She also coordinates the third semester Adult Health Nursing course and has played an instrumental role in initiating the use of simulation in the nursing curriculum. Gallo obtained her Associate Degree in Nursing from FSU in 1996 and went on to complete her Bachelor's of Science in Nursing in 1998. She obtained a Master's of Nursing with an emphasis on Nursing Education from Marshall University in 2006. She obtained her certification as a nurse educator in the spring of 2008.  Gallo has worked in various community health care organizations in the areas of cardiac step-down, home health, oncology, maternity and staff development. She resides in Bridgeport with her husband, Sam, and three daughters, Caroline, Jenna and Anna.

The NLN's CNE program has conferred new visibility and stature upon the academic nursing community which is 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," Malone said.

In years to come, she said, it is hoped that certified nurse educators will command higher salaries and be first in line for promotions and tenure.

With nearly half (46 percent) projected to retire within the next decade and nearly three-quarters (72 percent) within 15 years, replacing nurse educators is of grave concern, said NLN president Dr. Elaine Tagliareni.

"We must encourage more nurse faculty to prepare for certification as nurse educators so that our nursing schools can be staffed by academicians of the highest caliber. Only in this way can excellence in nursing education be ensured for another generation," Tagliareni said.

Dedicated to excellence in nursing education, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education offering faculty development, networking opportunities, testing and assessment, nursing research grants and public policy initiatives to its 23,000 individual and 1,100 institutional members.