• Economic Development/Workforce Demand
  

  Nursing Chair, Tenure track position at the rank of Associate or Professor. that requires administrative experience and an earned doctorate in nursing or a related field.
  Nurses are a major workforce shortfall in health care which is the 2nd largest economic engine and employer in our region. Workforce Survey for Nursing Programs conducted by the Florida Center for Nursing and the Florida Board of Nursing indicate that than 50% of qualified applicants are turned away each year from nursing programs due to limited funding for faculty positions, faculty shortages, and limited clinical education space. Survey results from Florida’s nurse employers in 2011 revealed that 89 percent of responding hospitals and 65 percent of responding skilled nursing facilities hire new graduate nurses. Additionally, this analysis showed an estimated 6,746 new RN positions will be created in Florida in 2012. The aging nursing workforce coupled with the recent recommendations from the Institute of Medicine for increasing BSN prepared nurses in the workplace puts additional strain on our already overscheduled nursing faculty to keep up with student enrollment. Yet, we take only one cohort per year, leaving faculty, during the “off” semesters, to teach courses in which they have minimal expertise. Creating a second cohort each year that would begin during the spring (or summer) semester carries with it the following advantages for students and faculty (1) aligns courses with faculty expertise each semester, (2) provides clinical agencies UWF nursing students during each semester for more consistency,
  (3) better meets workforce demands
  (4) alleviates the need for students who are unsuccessful in one course to lay out one year before returning,
  (5) increases retention (performance metrics),
  (6) decreases time to graduation (performance metrics),
  (7) provides a greater number of BSN graduates each year (performance metrics)

• Florida Board of Governors Areas of Strategic Emphasis      
  

  Nursing is one of the Florida BOG areas of strategic emphasis including:
  51.3801 Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse. HEALTH
  51.3803 Adult Health Nurse/Nursing. HEALTH
  51.3804 Nurse Anesthetist. HEALTH
  51.3805 Family Practice Nurse/Nursing. HEALTH
  51.3808 Nursing Science. HEALTH
  51.3809 Pediatric Nurse/Nursing. HEALTH
  51.3810 Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing. HEALTH
  51.3818 Nursing Practice. HEALTH

• Accreditation Requirements
  

  The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), our accreditation body, under Standard II: Program Quality: Institutional Commitment and Resources, states that the chief nurse administrator: is a registered nurse (RN); holds a graduate degree in nursing; is academically and experientially qualified to accomplish the mission, goals, and expected student and faculty outcomes; is vested with the administrative authority to accomplish the mission, goals, and expected student and faculty outcomes; and provides effective leadership to the nursing unit in achieving its mission, goals, and expected student and faculty outcomes.
  Elaboration: The chief nurse administrator has budgetary, decision-making, and evaluation authority that is comparable to that of chief administrators of similar units in the institution. He or she consults, as appropriate, with faculty and other communities of interest, to make decisions to accomplish the mission, goals, and expected student and faculty outcomes. The chief nurse administrator is perceived by the communities of interest to be an effective leader of the nursing unit.

• Community/Visibility
  

  A proven chief nurse administrator who is innovative and a visionary is needed to lead the department the Nursing program. A highly credentialed and experienced nurse executive would be able to work closely with local agency nurse administrators to manage a Department that continues to grow in volume and in programs.

An effective Chair for the Department of Nursing is critical to maintaining the quality of the program and the momentum experienced with program growth. It is also recognized that this person embrace the unique qualities of a small developing university and the need for interprofessional collaboration with multiple other health related departments.

This person should possess an established record of teaching, scholarly achievement and service appropriate to a tenured faculty appointment, thus this line should be tenure earning.

In addition the preferred candidate will possess
•Strong record of visionary, collaborative leadership
•Ability to be licensed as a registered nurse in Florida.
•Record of successful implementation of initiatives in time of change and growth.
•An earned doctorate in nursing or a related field.
•Skills for success in building community partnerships and fiscal resources.

The overall health and success of the nursing program will depend on the skills and investment offered by this individual. As Chair of a dynamic department with a complex set of course offerings and personnel, the majority of workload will be spent in program management and administration. However, this individual must be prepared to teach a variety of courses on the graduate level courses in the MSN and the proposed Executive Nurse Leader DNP track. The load would most likely minimally consist of one graduate level, on-line courses in each year, with additional teaching as needed.

There is currently a doctorally prepared nurse administrator in the Chair position who has recently been appointed as Associate Dean of Health.

No undergraduate degree specialization under 15 exists.

MSN is a young degree and is just building numbers. We are currently meeting with marketing for assistance with recruitment and considering development a proposal for a potential state school partnership with NWFSC and Jefferson Davis. The final specialization courses have one more semester of 2-4 students then will move to 7-12. If by next year we don't have significant increase in volume we will consider the impact of offering the specialty courses only once per year.

* Does not include non-degree specializations (indicated with a † above)