Alejandra Villegas RN, MSN/FNP-C, CNE, and Teresa Santos, MSN, RN, CNE (pictured left and right respectively) pose with their recently earned Certified Nurse Educator certificates.

During December, Imperial Valley College alumnae Teresa Santos and Alejandra Villegas became the first faculty members to take and pass a rigorous exam in an exercise that offered participants standardized methods of clinical and didactic instruction in nursing education.

Participants were provided information by Dr. Linda Wilson and Dr. Ruth A. Wittmann-Price, renowned authors in the field of nurse education and certification.

The benefits of this seminar were to standardize Imperial Valley College's approach to providing instruction through didactic or clinical methods in the nursing department as well as elevate the already high-caliber  teaching practices available to the college's nursing students.

Santos, MSN, RN, and Villegas, RN, MSN/ FNP-C, are the college's first faculty members to take and pass the exam, which now enables them to add the nationally recognized credentials of Certified Nurse Educator to their resumes.

Santos achieved this credentialing status while meeting students' needs as a clinical instructor, tutor, and as interim simulations coordinator. She also is an active front line nurse in the community. These  accomplishments come while she is enrolled as a fulltime Doctor of Education student, as well as being a dedicated wife and mother.

Villega achieved this credentialing status while meeting students' needs as a clinical instructor and tutor, but also as an active mid-level provider in the community as a Family Nurse Practitioner-Certified. This  accomplishment came while she is also enrolled as a fulltime Doctor of Nursing Practice scholar, as well as being a dedicated wife and mother.