UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Nurse educators have a critical role in helping to address the country’s nursing shortage by choosing a career path in teaching.
For National Nurses Week, May 6-12, Penn State is recognizing several nurse educators who have graduated from its doctoral program and are now on its faculty teaching future nurses.
Ashley Clark, Susan E. Maynard, Megan Murphy, Mary Alyce Nelson and Beth Ann White have graduated with a doctor of nursing practice (DNP) and are among the faculty members who teach for the Penn State Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing.
As nurse educators, they said they are giving back to the profession that means so much to them.
“I love cultivating new nursing leaders who will bring their expertise to both clinical and non-clinical areas,” said Maynard, who earned her doctorate and joined the faculty in 2021. “My goal is to empower students to see themselves in a wide range of leadership roles, and I enjoy seeing the transformation from their first class to graduation.”
The doctor of nursing practice program is offered exclusively online at Penn State, through Penn State World Campus, and enables its students to continue working in clinical settings. It also gives them the chance to apply what they learn in real-time in clinical practice.
The online DNP program has two tracks, a nurse practitioner option for Pennsylvania residents, and a nursing leadership option for nurses anywhere in the United States.
Here are highlights about the nursing faculty who are graduates of the doctor of nursing practice program:
Ashley Clark
Ashley Clark, of Morrisdale, is an assistant teaching professor. She graduated with her master of science in nursing from Penn State University Park in 2012, and in 2018, she completed the doctor of nursing practice online through Penn State World Campus.
Clark’s nursing career started as a certified nursing assistant in a long-term care facility. She started her registered nurse (RN) career in a rehabilitation facility where she assisted patients recovering from neurological conditions. She then transitioned to a medical/surgical unit in an acute care facility where she worked as a staff nurse, which sparked her interest to become a nurse educator.
She began her teaching career in 2012 in a practical nursing program and began teaching in the undergraduate nursing program at Penn State in 2013.
Clark primarily teaches undergraduate courses in the general bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program at University Park and has taught in the RN to BSN program that is offered online through World Campus.
Susan E. Maynard
Susan E. Maynard is an assistant teaching professor and clinical placement coordinator.
Maynard started her nursing career at Lewistown Hospital, working in telemetry, after graduating with her bachelor’s in 1996. She has worked with the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and Stanford Hospital in California. Prior to joining the faculty at Penn State in 2021, she was the stroke coordinator at Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College.
At Penn State, Maynard teaches graduate-level courses and is the clinical placement coordinator. She ensures graduate nursing students get valuable clinical and practicum experiences.
Megan Murphy
Megan Murphy graduated with her doctor of nursing practice family nurse practitioner program in 2024. She began teaching in Penn State’s undergraduate nursing program in 2016 as an adjunct clinical faculty member and became part of the full-time faculty in 2018.
Murphy worked for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in several inpatient units, and when she relocated to State College, she worked in pediatric home health as a nurse educator and supervisor.
Murphy teaches the undergraduate pediatric nursing course, health assessment labs and medical/surgical nursing clinical in hospital settings. She also coordinates clinical experiences in the local community and serves as the faculty adviser for the University Park chapter of the Student Nurses Association.
Mary Alyce Nelson
Mary Alyce Nelson, of Boalsburg, is an associate professor in the Nese College of Nursing and the director of undergraduate nursing education at University Park and for the online RN to BSN program offered through Penn State World Campus.
She graduated with a doctor of nursing practice in 2019.
In her career, she has worked as a staff nurse, in administration as a director of nursing, and a director and educator of a hospital-based nursing program. Prior to her joining the faculty at Penn State in 2015, she was the director of nursing and assistant director of clinical services for Penn State University Health Services.
Beth Ann White
Beth Ann White, of McVeytown, is a certified registered nurse practitioner (CRNP) at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital and an associate professor in the Penn State Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing. She currently teaches in the university’s online graduate nursing program.
White, who has more than 30 years of clinical experience, graduated in 2018 with a doctor of nursing practice. She completed the degree online while working with Geisinger.
She began teaching in the undergraduate nursing program in the Nese College of Nursing in 2017 and since 2022 has been teaching graduate-level nursing courses.
White is the coordinator for the college’s family practice and adult gerontology primary care nurse practitioner programs. In that role, she works closely with students to review their plans of study to assure their progress is on target.
The need for nurse educators
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the number of positions in the field of nursing to grow through 2031, with demand for RNs, advanced practice registered nurses, nurse practitioners and nurse anesthetists, among others.
However, a study published in 2022 in Health Affairs showed that the number of RNs decreased by more than 100,000, the greatest drop over the past four decades.
“Nurse educators are integral to the future health and wellness of our world. Without our nurse educators, who guide and inspire the next generation to find and nurture their passion, the nation’s nursing shortage cannot be lessened,” said Rae Brown, associate dean for undergraduate education at the Nese College, who is also a teaching professor and certified nurse educator. “Mentoring is such a critical component to setting our aspiring nurses up for success, and nurse educators fulfill that calling with each cohort they teach.”
Penn State offers a comprehensive selection of nursing programs in residence at the University Park campus, at 11 Commonwealth Campuses and online through Penn State World Campus.
Visit the Penn State World Campus website to learn more about the nursing programs offered online.