OAR 851-021-0045: Nursing Faculty

(1) Nursing education program faculty must include a sufficient number of qualified nurse educators and nurse educator associates to meet the learning outcomes of the program. Additionally: (a) The final evaluation of student learning outcomes in the classroom or clinical experience must be made by a nurse faculty member; and (b) Nursing faculty must be academically and experientially qualified for their program assignment. (2) Program appointments and qualifications include: (a) The nurse administrator. The nurse administrator is responsible and accountable for the nursing education program, regardless of the official title assigned by the institution. The nurse administrator must: (A) Hold an active RN license in Oregon; (B) Hold at least a graduate degree in nursing; and (C) Have two years full-time experience as a nurse educator or in an administrative position in an academic nursing education program. (b) The nurse educator. The nurse educator is responsible for the development, implementation, and evaluation of the nursing program curriculum. This may include a full-time, part-time, or adjunct faculty regardless of institutional rank. The nurse educator must: (A) Hold an active RN license in Oregon; (B) Hold at least a graduate degree in nursing, or a baccalaureate degree in nursing and graduate or doctoral degree in a related field. If teaching in a PN program only, the nurse educator may hold a baccalaureate degree in nursing; and (C) Document competency in teaching through experience, educational preparation, or CE. (c) The nurse educator associate. The nurse educator associate may contribute to classroom and clinical instruction in collaboration with and under the direction of the nurse educator. The nurse educator associate must: (A) Hold an active RN license in Oregon; and (B) Hold at least a baccalaureate degree in nursing. (d) The non-nurse faculty. Non-nurse faculty may teach within the nursing curriculum or other required courses with embedded nursing outcomes. These faculty must: (A) Hold at least a graduate degree; and (B) Be academically and experientially qualified for assigned teaching responsibilities. (3) In addition to the requirements in OAR 851-021-0045(2) APRN program administrators and faculty must meet the following qualifications for APRN programs: (a) A program administrator of a Nurse Practitioner (NP) education program must have a current national certification with the same population focus of the educational program. (b) A program administrator of a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) education program must have a current national CRNA certification. (c) A program administrator of a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) education program must have a current national certification with the same population focus as the education program, unless a national certification for the population focus or subject matter does not exist. (d) All nursing faculty teaching APRN specialty core courses must hold an active equivalent Oregon APRN license. (4) The nurse administrator has authority to make faculty appointments within these rules without Board approval or notification. (5) The nursing education program must ensure that faculty are provided orientation and mentorship in their assigned roles. (6) Nurse faculty members must have the authority and responsibility to: (a) Design, review, and implement the curriculum; (b) Develop and evaluate nursing program policies, including student admission, progression, and graduation policies; (c) Evaluate student learning outcomes in didactic and clinical settings; (d) Provide timely feedback to students on progression within a course and the program; (e) Provide opportunity for students to evaluate teaching effectiveness, courses, and the program; (f) Provide clear guidance to clinical partners on learning outcomes, expected competencies, and learning level of students assigned to the clinical experience; and (g) Implement a plan for on-going course-specific and comprehensive program evaluation. (7) Nurse faculty members must engage in professional development related to their professional role or teaching responsibilities. The educational institution and nurse administrator must provide support for faculty in developing and maintaining competence in assigned teaching responsibilities and nursing practice. (8) Faculty to student ratios in clinical experiences for prelicensure PN/RN education: (a) Nursing education programs must develop policies surrounding the faculty-to-student ratio in each clinical experience setting utilized by the program. In determining faculty-to-student ratios programs must consider: (A) Learning outcomes; (B) Experience of the faculty member; (C) Level of student; (D) Context of care; (E) Number, type and condition of clients; and (F) Adequacy of the ratio to allow nurse faculty to: (i) Assess students’ ability to function safely in the experience; (ii) Select and guide the student experience; and (iii) Evaluate student performance and learning. (b) In clinical experiences where the nurse faculty provides direct supervision of the nursing student, a nurse faculty member may be responsible for up to eight students. Faculty members providing supervision must remain in the same facility as the student group for the duration of their clinical experiences. (c) In clinical experiences where students are directly supervised by an employee in the clinical setting, the faculty may oversee up to 12 students. The faculty remains responsible for the evaluation of student learning and must be available for in-person participation with facility staff. (d) Nursing programs may develop and utilize Dedicated Education Units (DEU), using clinical preceptors and a modified faculty-to-student ratio. Programs and DEU’s must adhere to the following guidelines: (A) Faculty must orient and provide on-going guidance for clinical preceptors related to the program goals, teaching strategies, learning outcomes, and expected competencies of the students; (B) Clinical preceptors must be selected according to written criteria developed by faculty and agreed to by a responsible person in the practice site; (C) Faculty are not required to remain in the same facility as the student group throughout the clinical experience shift but must be available for the clinical preceptors and students at the practice site, as defined in program policy; (D) The faculty member must confer with each clinical preceptor and student (individually or in groups) regularly during the clinical experience as defined in program policy; and (E) Each clinical preceptor in the DEU may have oversight of no more than two students at one time. (e) Nursing programs may offer students a precepted final practicum experience. The faculty-to-student ratio for this experience must allow for appropriate assessment and evaluation of the learning and support the achievement of course outcomes and may not exceed one faculty for fifteen students per group. (A) The clinical preceptor may have supervision of one student at a time during the provision of client care; (B) The faculty member is not required to be consistently on-site, but must be available for in-person participation with the clinical preceptor and student while the student is involved in the learning experience; and (C) Evaluation of student learning and achievement of course or program outcomes remains with the faculty member. (9) Clinical preceptors may be assigned to work directly with students. Nursing education programs must ensure that: (a) Clinical preceptors are licensed at or above the level of licensure that an assigned student is seeking. Additionally, for APRN programs, preceptors must be licensed as a health care provider and have a comparable practice focus; (b) Preceptors are provided written information about student preparation and expected learning outcomes.