Doña Ana Community College (DACC) nursing instructors Ernesto Soto and Ingrid Wilson have earned additional national certifications in nursing education.
Soto, a MSNEd, RN met all of the certification requirements for the Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator program through the Society for Simulation in Healthcare and is now officially a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator while Wilson, a MSN, RN has earned the designation Certified Nurse Educator through the National League for Nursing after meeting strict eligibility criteria and successfully completing a rigorous certification examination.
DACC Nursing Program Director Tracy Lopez is proud of faculty and their professional development, “By gaining these certifications our faculty are ultimately improving the student experience at DACC and emphasizing the most current methods, techniques and practices.”
Soto helps nursing students learn by using human patient simulators. After orienting to the simulators in the first semester, they progress working with them for the rest of their time in the laboratory. These simulators resemble human “dummies” and are programmable to feature real symptoms that patients experience. Simulations allows students to make decisions about patient care in real time with the dummies reacting to each treatment by the nursing candidates. Students learn critical thinking skills, and solve problems from a nurse’s perspective in a safe environment.
This certification recognizes the specialized knowledge and skills Soto has in the area of healthcare simulation and is held by a small number of nursing faculty in the U.S. In order to be eligible for certification Soto passed a national certification exam.
Wilson’s designation is held by a small portion of qualified nurse educators in the U.S. as well. The examination for certification was developed to measure competence in the full scope of the academic nurse educator role. Passing the examination is a mark of excellence and shows Wilson’s depth and breadth of knowledge in the field of nursing education.
According to the National League for Nursing, Wilson’s accomplishment promotes excellence and:
- Distinguishes academic nursing education as a specialty area of practice and an advanced practice role within professional nursing,
- Recognizes the academic nurse educator’s specialized knowledge, skills and abilities,
- Strengthens the core competencies of nurse education practice, and
- Contributes to the nurse educator’s professional development.