Jan. 13, 2006 -- Dr. Elizabeth Stokes, CNE, and Ms. Paige Wimberley, CNE, both faculty members in the Department of Nursing for the College of Nursing and Health Professions at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, are among the first 174 nurse educators to acquire certification credentials.

To acquire this new credential, both Stokes and Wimberley had to complete a rigorous examination administered by the National League of Nursing, which now gives them CNE (certified nursing educator) status.

Stokes joined ASU in 1991 working with other faculty to establish the master of science nursing program. She has served as director of the MSN program and as interim chair of the Department of Nursing on two occasions.

Wimberley holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from ASU and became a full-time nursing faculty member in 1997. Among her other responsibilities, she coordinates the RN-BSN program.

The National League of Nursing initiated the national certification program for nurse educators to recognize implementation of standards of excellence in education, to increase the visibility the status of the academic nurse educator, and to establish nursing education as a specialty area of practice.

The first nurse educator certification examination was administered in September 2005.