Distant Clinical Faculty

Health care reform will increase demand for primary care providers.  Nurse Practitioners are positioned to make a significant contribution in meeting this need.  As a result, many nurse practitioner programs are developing or have developed distanced education programs to proivde nurses in outling areas with access to quality nurse practitioner education.  As the number of students increase, there is a need and opportunity to develop cost effective ways to supervise students in clinical sites near their home communities. One solution is to utilize clinical faculty in distant regional areas.  Part-time clinical adjunct faculty must not only meet standard educational and practice requirements of Boards of Nursing and nursing program acceditors, but also have the knowledge and skills to support students in critical clinical preceptorships.  This poster will present a plan for identifying, preparing and supporting expert practitioners in their new role as clinical faculty.  Successes, challenges and future plans will also be identified.