Nursing, Post-Doctoral Certificate in Nursing Education

A post-doctoral certificate in nursing education is available for nurses with a doctoral degree who would like to develop or enhance their pedagogical knowledge and skills in nursing education.

Learners completing the post-doctoral certificate in nursing education will be prepared to:

• Synthesize knowledge of the theoretical foundations of nursing education, and related fields, within the context of higher education.
• Integrate acquired knowledge into philosophical and intellectual frame of reference that can be applied to nursing education.
• Evaluate curricular designs and outcomes based on internal and external contextual analysis.
• Engage in scholarly discourse with colleagues, nurse scholars, and leaders.

Admission

Admission to the certificate program will be open to licensed nurses holding a DNP degree or a research focused doctoral degree in nursing (e.g. PhD, DNS, etc.) or a closely related discipline.  Applicants will need to supply official transcripts documenting receipt of the required doctoral degree from a regionally-accredited institution and if their master’s degree is a major other than nursing, an official transcript from the master’s degree program to ensure that adequate nursing coursework has been completed will be required.  No transfer credits will be accepted for the certificate program.

All courses required for the certificate are offered in a hybrid or online format and carry regular academic credit from Widener University.  Courses with an earned grade of B (3.0) or better may be applied toward the doctor of philosophy (PhD) degree program if the student decides to apply for matriculation into the doctoral program. Completion of the certificate courses does not guarantee admission into the doctoral program. Certificate students must meet the same criteria as other applicants for the PhD program.