By Crisdeniele Clemente

The MMSU Graduate School (GS) conducted a stakeholders forum on implementing the Master’s in Nursing Education (MNE) program today, October 3, via Zoom.

The MNE program aims to upskill competent nurse educators in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program to teach undergraduate students. Graduates of the program are expected to serve as clinical faculty in nursing educational institutions. Furthermore, this non-thesis master’s degree can either be a terminal program or a bridge toward completing a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) through additional bridging courses.

During the meeting, Dr. Bing Parinas, MNE program chair, emphasized that the primary objective of the new program is to address the critical national and global shortage of nurses by increasing the number of qualified nursing educators. The program's objectives and implementation guidelines are based on the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order No. 5, series of 2024.

Dr. Parinas highlighted that while MMSU is already eligible for the program and has met most of the requirements, additional input from experts in the education field is needed to develop the program further.

Additionally, Dr. Parinas also addressed the need for a sufficient clinical education workforce. She shared the results of a feasibility study from their department, which showed that 90% of 44 respondents expressed their commitment to pursuing the program. 

The curriculum consists of ten courses, allowing participants to earn 30 academic units. These include 15 units in didactics, focusing on the science of teaching and instruction, and 15 dedicated to teaching demonstrations, clinical preceptorship, and other relevant learning experiences, fulfilling the requirements for a master’s degree. The program will be delivered in a blended learning format, combining online and face-to-face instruction for both theoretical and related learning experience components.

One of the unique features of the MNE program is the recognition of prior learning, where credit equivalency is given for relevant clinical and teaching experience. Participants may earn up to nine educational units based on portfolio assessments of their professional expertise.

The forum also discussed the admission requirements, which include that the enrollee must have a degree in BS Nursing from a recognized higher education institution, must be a registered nurse with an updated PRC license, have at least one year of clinical experience, nursing portfolio detailing their professional knowledge and competencies, and the completion of GS admission requirements.

Faculty members, officials, and alumni of MMSU, Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College, Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University, and nurses and healthcare professionals from district hospitals in Bangui, Piddig, Dingras, and Marcos were present at the event.