Lessons learned from an accelerated post-master's nurse educator certificate program: teaching the practicum course.

Nursing faces current and future shortages in the practice arena. The nurse educator shortage exacerbates the nursing shortage.This article describes an innovative and collaborative approach developed to increase the supply of nurse educators. An overview of the initial offering of this post-master's nurse educator certificate program, a grant-funded, cohort-based program, delivered online in an accelerated format, is provided. Particular attention is given to the nursing education practicum, a precepted teaching experience. This course is viewed as a culminating course, wherein the role transition from expert practitioner to novice educator occurs as students connect the experiential aspects of the practicum with knowledge gained in didactic courses and enter a new community of practice. Lessons learned and recommendations for future cohorts are discussed.