POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. – A member of the Three Rivers Community College faculty recently received national certification for nursing educators.

Three Rivers faculty member Paulette Alexander passed the Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) exam and received certification from the National League of Nursing (NLN).

The NLN certification program recognizes excellence in the advanced specialty of the academic nurse educator. The certification program began in September 2005. Since its inception fewer than 300 nurse educators have passed the stringent exam to the NLN Certified Nurse Educator credential.

The NLN certification program recognizes academic nursing education as a specialty area of practice and an advanced practice role within professional nursing, communicating to students, peers and the academic and health care communities the highest standards of excellence.

Alexander is a nursing educator in the day nursing program at Three Rivers. Alexander received an AAS degree in nursing from Three Rivers in 1977, a BSN degree from St. Louis University in 1981 and a MSN degree from the University of Missouri – St. Louis in 1997. She worked in a number of different health care settings for nearly 20 years prior to joining the Three Rivers nursing faculty in 1985. For three years in the early 1990s she was the Director of Education at a local hospital and returned to Three Rivers in 1993.  Alexander and her husband live in Poplar Bluff and she has three daughters and two grandchildren.

The Three Rivers Community College Nursing Department provides high-quality learning opportunities for nursing students. The Three Rivers Nursing Department was established in 1969. Since that time more than 750 nurses have graduated from the program. In January 2005 an evening program was added, doubling the number of nursing students at the college. The Three Rivers Nursing Department is committed to graduating outstanding nurses who are grounded in their education and responsible to their patients’ and communities’ needs – nurses who care. For additional information on Three Rivers Community College or the TRCC Department of Nursing, contact the college at 1-877-TRY-TRCC.