February 11, 2008
Bowling Green, Kentucky – WKU School of Nursing is pleased to announce that Crista L. Briggs has earned the designation Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) after successfully completing a rigorous certification examination developed and administered by the National League for Nursing.

Dr. Crista Briggs received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree from Western Kentucky University in 1996. While attending nursing school, she was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Honors Society for Nurses. She completed the Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree at WKU in 2001 and soon accepted a faculty position at Tennessee Wesleyan College-Fort Sanders Nursing Department in Knoxville, Tennessee where she taught for three years.  In the fall of 2002, Crista entered a doctoral program in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences at The University of Tennessee. She was awarded an Ed.D. in the summer of 2004 with a concentration in Curriculum, Educational Research, and Evaluation. In August 2004, she became a full-time assistant professor in the School of Nursing at Western Kentucky University.

The NLN’s CNE program has conferred new visibility and stature upon the academic nursing community, long overdue, said Dr. Beverly Malone, CEO of the NLN. “Through the certification program, we have made clear to the ranks of higher education that the role of nurse educator is an advanced professional practice discipline with a defined practice setting and demonstrable standards of excellence,” she commented. In years to come, she added, it is hoped that certified nurse educators will command higher salaries and be first in line for promotions and tenure.