Program Background

There are two main barriers to reducing the nursing shortages; the lack of clinical placements and lack of clinical faculty needed to support nursing student education. The Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence has been leading a statewide initiative since 2005 focused on increasing the number and aptitude of nurses working with nursing students in the clinical setting. This program originated with a Colorado Department of Labor and Employment grant to train 45 Scholars. We now offer this program three times a year and we have trained over 1800 CNE Clinical Scholars.

The Center conducts regular rapid cycle process improvement to ensure the curriculum includes the best practices and evidenced-based strategies for educating students in the clinical environment and expanding nurses’ clinical judgement. Program outcomes demonstrate significant improvement in student learning with increases in quality and safety of patient care, improved satisfaction of staff nurses working with students, improved patient satisfaction, and improved nurse satisfaction and retention making the program a standard of practice for many schools and clinical agencies across Colorado.

The content aligns to the National League for Nursing’s (NLN) Clinical Nurse Educator Competencies, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing’s (NCSBN) Clinical Judgment Model and state Scopes of Practice, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials and Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education, the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL) Standards and ensures the promotion and appreciation of diversity, equity, and inclusion aligned to the Future of Nursing Report and the National Commission on Racism in Nursing’s findings.

As the result of the pandemic, in 2020 the Center shifted the delivery of this five-day program to virtual making this invaluable program easier to attend for those outside of the Denver area and beyond Colorado. We now offer both virtual and in-person options throughout the year.  Watch for announcements for our workshop schedule.