December 15, 2010
NURSES TEACHING NURSES
18 nurse educators receive fellowships to reward them for staying in the teaching profession
SPRINGFIELD – The State of Illinois faces two nursing shortages. There is a shortage of well-trained nurses. There also is a shortage of highly qualified nursing faculty to ensure new nurses are well trained.
Nursing is a high-demand employment field throughout the State, and to meet the demand requires retention of well-qualified faculty. Faculty like Karen Barber at Black Hawk College, and Donna Jewel at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville are among 18 professors at Illinois colleges and universities who are recipients of $10,000 fellowship awarded by the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) at its December 7th meeting. The fellowships are a salary supplement aimed at rewarding well-qualified faculty to remain in the classroom rather than migrate to better paying jobs in the private sector. The fellowships also fund professional development activities.
These fellowships mark the fifth year of the Illinois Nurse Educator Fellowship program. In the last four years, 63 fellowships have been awarded, and a recent survey found that the program is a good investment. The Illinois Center for Nursing learned that 97 percent (61 of the 63) are still employed in Illinois as a nurse educator or as an educator/administrator. Because the demand for practicing nurses is so high, the frequency of outside offers for nurse educators to leave teaching and go into clinical practices has increased. The fellowship has helped teaching institutions to recognize their well-qualified nursing professors as well as retain them to continue to train much needed nurses.
“The Illinois Nurse Educator Fellowship program has helped Illinois institutions of higher education retain well-qualified nurse educators.” stated Carrie J. Hightman, IBHE Chairwoman. “The Illinois Public Agenda for College and Career Success, the state’s blueprint for education and economic policy matters, identifies the importance of increasing the number of high-quality postsecondary credentials, like nursing degrees, to meet the demands of Illinois’ economy. I congratulate this year’s Fellows for the excellent work they do preparing nurses for needed Illinois jobs in the health care field.”
The Fellows are nominated by Illinois institutions of higher learning with a nursing program approved by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) or the National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission (NLNAC).
The 2011 Fellows (in alphabetical order) are:
Recipient |
Institution |
Karen Baber, MS, RN |
Black Hawk College |
Debra J. Jenkins, MSN, RN* |
Millikin University |
Donna Jewell, PhD, RN |
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville |
Mary Teresa (Terry) Johnson, MSN, RN, FNP-BC |
Elmhurst College |
Patty Kershaw, DNP(c), RN |
Olivet Nazarene University |
Teresa Kisch, MSN, RN |
Aurora University |
Dawn Kuerschner, PhD(c), APN-BC, RNC, CNE |
Oakton Community College |
Patricia Pence, PhD, RN |
Illinois Valley Community College |
Ann Popkess, PhD, RN |
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville |
Jeanette Rossetti, EdD, RN |
Northern Illinois University |
Tanisha Rufus, MSN, RN * |
CCC - Richard J. Daley College |
Tonya Rutherford-Hemming, MSN, RN * |
Loyola University of Chicago |
Monica Ryan, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC |
St. Xavier University |
Carrol A. M. Smith, PhD, RN |
U of I at Chicago |
Susan L. Swanlund, PhD, RN |
Illinois Wesleyan University |
Denise Wilson, PhD, APN, CNP |
Illinois State University |
Tracy Wollin, MSN, RN |
Lakeview College of Nursing |
Polly Zimmermann, MSN, MBA, RN, CEN |
CCC - Harry S Truman College |