Retooling a Clinical Nurse Leader Curriculum in Response to the Nursing Faculty Shortage

Background: Our school had increased full-time and adjunct faculty vacancies. To deal with this crisis, we recruited our clinical nurse leader (CNL) graduates. Many reported not feeling prepared to teach. This article describes changes made in a CNL curriculum to better prepare graduates for positions in academic nursing education. Method: While the CNL skill set was created for care of patient populations, it is also transferable to nursing education. Previously, our curriculum used only clinical experiences to teach aspects of CNL practice. We added academic educational experiences and content into our curriculum as another means of teaching the skill set. Results: The size of our CNL program doubled. Students reported gaining confidence about the CNL role in both clinical and academic settings. Conclusion:This This curricular change allows CNL students to "try on" the role of nurse educator. This exposure may increase their desire to pursue a career in academia.