Expert to Novice: Developing Into Clinical Faculty

Webinar Overview

Finding qualified nursing faculty is a challenge for most schools of nursing. One solution lies with developing a cadre of expert clinicians who teach as part-time faculty to meet the demands of clinical education. What happens when these seasoned clinical experts become novice educators? Find out from an experienced administrator and researcher in the area of role transitions. This session will discuss strategies to further the development of clinical educators, as well as ideas to enhance role transition, resulting in long-term solutions to the nursing faculty shortage.

This Webinar is hosted by the Graduate Nursing Student Academy (GNSA). For more information on the GNSA, visit www.aacn.nche.edu/students/gnsa.

Webinar Speaker

Regina M. Cusson, PhD, RN
Dean and Professor
University of Connecticut, School of Nursing

Regina M. Cusson, PhD, NNP-BC, APRN, FAAN is Professor and Dean at the University of Connecticut, School of Nursing. Dr. Cusson received her degrees from St. Joseph College, Emmitsburg, MD (BS in Nursing), University of Maryland School of Nursing (MS in Maternal-Child Nursing), University of Maryland College of Education (PhD in Human Development) and the University of Pennsylvania (post-graduate certificate as a neonatal nurse practitioner). Dr. Cusson began her career as a nurse working in the intensive care units at the University of Maryland Medical System. She joined the faculty of the University of Maryland, School of Nursing in 1979, where she developed a pediatric trauma-critical care nursing graduate major, as well as the first NNP program in the state of Maryland. She served as Chairperson of the Department of Maternal-Child Nursing, before joining the U of Connecticut School of Nursing Faculty in 1998, when she joined UConn as coordinator of the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) program. Dr. Cusson initiated and served as Coordinator of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses Faculty Special Interest Group. She has been funded by the March of Dimes and the National Institutes of Health for her research on preterm infant development. Her current research focuses on advanced nursing practice role transition and neonatal nurse practitioner workforce issues. She was a Visiting Professor at the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, London during the 2004 academic year and was an Honorary Visiting Fellow at the University of Brighton in spring, 2011. Dr. Cusson served as associate dean for academic affairs and advanced practice for four years before assuming the role of interim dean in 2011.