University Nursing Professors Hold Vital Positions In Metro LA
Vocational possibilities for postsecondary nursing instructors in California remain stellar. The Golden State continues to lead the nation with the highest employment level in this indispensable job sector, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Los Angeles, these consummate scholars earn an average annual salary of about $90,000, which exceeds the countrywide norm. Students that attend proactive schools that are committed to preparing future nursing educators for a life-sustaining role in this field stand a greater chance of achieving career-rewarding benefits.
"Our students are very successful," said Dr. Loucine M. Huckabay, a professor and director of the School of Nursing at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) "We have a one-hundred percent employment rate and a ninety percent graduation rate. Plus, ninety-nine percent of our graduates pass their national certification exams."
Huckabay said her institution's focus is to help mold a diversified generation of collegiate educators.
"We strive to recruit and mentor nursing faculty who come from varied cultural and ethnic backgrounds and clinical specializations to serve as competent role models, motivators and facilitators to our nursing students," said Huckabay, a 50-year veteran of nursing who earned her Ph.D. degree from UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.
What is CSULB doing to help nursing graduates become more employable?
"We offer a Doctor of Practice degree to educate and produce more nursing teachers. We also provide a very diverse environment that mirrors the world around us and the health care facilities in which our students are likely to work."
What defines an effective nursing instructor?
"Nursing faculty must enjoy teaching and have a philosophy that with proper educational strategy, all students can and should succeed."
In what way will an educator's role change in coming years?
"By 2022, there will be more online or hybrid courses and programs, thus the nursing professor of the future needs to learn how to teach those procedures."
What is your advice to prospective nursing educators?
"I encourage them to take official university-level courses in teaching strategies. They must also pursue both a doctoral degree and a nurse practitioner degree with national board certification."
Sharon Raiford Bush is an award-winning journalist who covers topics of social interest in greater Los Angeles. Some news articles she has authored have been archived by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Sharon also contributes to Examiner.com.
