Graduate Certificates

Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education (GCNE)

The Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education is designed to provide education in teaching and curriculum for registered nurses. To earn the GCNE, students with at least a bachelor’s degree take four courses from the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing.

The GCNE is designed for four student populations:

First, students in our Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL), Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), and PhD programs may elect to complete the GCNE in addition to the requirements of their programs.

A second overlapping group is teaching assistants who may want to enhance their teaching skills.

A third group of potential students is faculty who teach nursing in programs across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts who have advanced degrees but no formal education in teaching strategies.

Finally, a fourth group of potential students is nurses who work as educators in clinical settings. Many of these nurses have bachelor’s degrees and lack training in educational strategies.

Individuals who complete the GCNE program and have a master’s or doctoral degree in nursing qualify to take the National League of Nursing (NLN) Certification for Nurse Educators.

Program Goals

• Develop a grounding in pedagogical theories
• Evaluate nursing curriculum using accreditation guidelines
• Consider quality measures in nursing education in developing and evaluating nursing curriculum
• Use creative teaching methods to enhance pedagogy
• Reflect on own teaching style as a means of incorporating new teaching strategies
• Prepare nurses for education roles in colleges, universities, and clinical settings

The GCNE consists of a flexible four-course (12-credit) program of study focused on teaching curricular knowledge and pedagogical skills needed to teach nursing. In order to make these courses available, they will be offered in asynchronous online classes and a final practicum in staff development and education, which may be in a clinical setting, face-to-face class, online class, clinical lab, or in a health care setting. School of Education electives may be online, face-to-face, or blended classes.

The GCNE consists of four total coreses, with three core nursing courses and a final teaching practicum. In the practicum, students will apply their nursing and pedagogical skills to working with nursing students in the classroom, online, and in clinical settings or in health care facilities in education and staff development.

Students in the PhD or the DNP programs may choose to add on this concentration. Students interested in this adding this optio should speak to their program advisor and complete the Track Change Request Form. 

Required courses

N560 Simulation for Healthcare Education

Critique theories associated with simulation, communication, and evaluation of student outcomes. Reviews care of simulation equipment and software and how to create and facilitate simulations culminating with a developed simulation.

N641 Curriculum Development and Evaluation Process in Nursing

Focuses on developing the knowledge and skills of nurse educators in applying principles of curriculum development, evaluation, and related processes in nursing education.

N642 Teaching in Nursing

Focuses on the dynamic, creative process of teaching and learning clinical nursing in preparation for competent, reflective nursing practice. Philosophies, theories, methodologies, and trends relevant to nursing education are included.

N698T Teaching Practicum in Nursing (Pre-requisites: N642 and N641)

This course provides the framework, mentorship, and coaching for graduate students to develop skills in teaching in the classroom, in clinical settings, and in an online environment.

Clinical and Teaching Practicum Information 

N698T is a practicum course. Three credits are allocated to this course for supervised teaching (which translates into 168 contact hours). This course consists of practicum experiences that include precepted education of nursing students in the classroom, online, clinical, and/or simulation/lab environment. There is also a direct care component that consists of approximately 35 hours of client education in the direct care patient environment. Students will participate in about twelve hours of supervised teaching activities in a selected teaching/learning situation each week plus direct care education experience over the course of the semester in addition to online discussion of cases and progress. Some of this time will be spent in preparation for the teaching/learning activities, some will be spent observing faculty teaching, and some will be spent teaching. Students will document their practicum hours and activities in Typhon (See above).

Students will spend 6 or more weeks in one of the following teaching/learning environments:

Nursing Student Education Setting

• classroom (live and/or simulation)
• clinical (live and/or videoconferencing)
• simulation/skills lab
• online (synchronous and/or asynchronous)

Direct Care Learning Environment: Patient or Patient Population Setting

• health care facility
• community health setting
• community health outreach

Time in the learning environment may vary somewhat, but, generally, classroom time also equates to preparation time. Students should prepare for the class whether actively teaching or observing by making sure they review the material prior to class and make notes about important points. For every hour in the learning environment, there are three hours of preparation. For example, a three-credit course equals three hours of class time plus nine hours of prep time, for a total of 12 hours per week.

Students will be assisted in identifying potential preceptors and sites for completing teaching practicum hours. The preceptor must have at least a master’s degree in nursing and at least two years of experience. The preceptor must agree to work with the student to complete all of the required hours for the practicum and submit a mid-term and final evaluation to the course faculty The Elaine Marieb College of Nursing requires a signed preceptor/faculty/student agreement and the preceptor’s résumé/CV and contact information before contact hours can begin. Students who have clinical practicums will need to upload required health and other records into Castle Branch. The course faculty will maintain regular contact with the preceptor and solicit feedback in order to evaluate the student’s attainment of course objectives. The course faculty will assign the final grade for the course.

Registration

• Matriculated students do not need to fill out a non-degree application, but they do need to complete an application for the Certificate in Nursing Education.
• Non-matriculated students will need to complete a non-degree application (Graduate School) in addition to the application for the Certificate in Nursing Education. Their student file will be housed at EMCON.

While the College will monitor students’ progress, students are responsible for keeping track of their completion of required coursework. Students may submit a Graduate Certificate Eligibility Form at any time during their graduate career.

For non-degree students, the College will monitor progress and inform the Graduate School when students have completed the sequence of courses. Non-matriculated students will be acknowledged in the Commencement Program under “Certificate Programs.”

Nursing Education Certificate Program Office:

University of Massachusetts Amherst
Elaine Marieb College of Nursing
032 Skinner Hall
Amherst, MA 01003-9304
lyovina [at] umass [dot] edu (Lynn Yovina), Program Assistant

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Post-Master’s Certificate

The Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Post-Master's  Certificate prepares nurses to obtain psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner certification. This accelerated online program is designed for nurses who have completed a master's degree and who wish to expand their scope of practice to include the care of individuals, families, and groups with psychiatric and mental health needs. Preference is given to nurses with experience in psychiatric mental health nursing.

This certificate will prepare students to:

• Address the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual elements of mental health care
• Apply for the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner board certification examination
• Work in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings

Objectives of the PMHNP Post-Master’s Certificate

1. Provide the instructional foundation for students to obtain professional certification as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
2. Develop appropriate clinical inferences based on a solid background in the sciences for the prevention of illness and the promotion of physical and mental health.
3. Effectively evaluate the efficacy of drug therapies on the physical and mental health of patients and consider non-drug integrative therapies to promote health.
4. Assess, diagnose and treat common psychiatric and mental health disorders across the lifespan.
5. Engage in inter- and intra-disciplinary collaboration and consultation in care of individuals, groups, and families.
6. Synthesize and translate evidence-based practices from nursing and other disciplines to manage complex psychiatric and mental health conditions.
7. Analyze social problems, health care policies and practices which affect the delivery of psychiatric mental health care.

Required courses

Applicants to the certificate program will have a full review of prior coursework to determine credits and hours needed to qualify for the ANCC board certification examination and fulfill EMCON requirements. Individual plans of study will reflect students’ completed coursework in the College’s PMHNP DNP program. Students must follow the same procedure for clinical placements as the DNP students. See DNP-PHNP course descriptions. 

This program requires that the 3P’s (Patho, Pharm, Physical Assessment) be completed in the last 10 years.  Applicants will need to provide official transcripts and possibly course descriptions indicating this.  If you need to complete them again, you can do so with us as part of your program.

A GAP Analysis will be completed by the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing as part of the admission process and will document what you need for certification.

The Elaine Marieb College of Nursing does not provide clinical placements for you; however, we do have support in place should you need assistance. It is highly recommended that you have clinical placements sought out before applying to the program. 

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Courses

Applicants who hold master’s degrees and are NOT practicing NP’s will be reviewed and in addition to the above course requirements will need to take:

N725 Leadership in Public Health Systems – 3 cr.

N670 Family Systems and Interventions – 3 cr.

N703 Pharmacotherapy Management – 3 cr

N898D Final Residency – 2 cr.

Completion of Certificate:

Once all course work is completed (or you are in your final semester) students will be expected to apply for the Certificate with the Graduate School at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst and follow the deadline provided to receive the Certificate.  Deadlines are April 1st to receive a May Certificate, and December 15th for a February Certificate.  The Certificate application form can be found at the Graduate School’s website at:

https://www.umass.edu/graduate/form/certificate-eligibility-form

Psych/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certificate Program Office:

University of Massachusetts Amherst
Elaine Marieb College of Nursing
032 Skinner Hall
Amherst, MA 01003-9304
Karen Ayotte, Program Specialist
kayotte [at] umass [dot] edu (kayotte[at]umass[dot]edu)

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