NURSING C918

C918 Evolving Roles of Nurse Educators in Diverse Environments Western Governors University EVOLVING ROLES OF NURSE EDUCATORS 2 Evolving Roles of Nurse Educators in Diverse Environments Interview Guide 1. What are the qualities most needed to be a successful academic nurse educator? In order to be successful in your role as an academic nurse educator, you must be innovative in your approach to teaching and possess: number one the background experience in both practice and academia, number two be passionate about nursing, number three enjoy sharing your experiences and expertise, next be people savvy, oh and cannot forget the most important quality- have patience! As an educator, you will notice that learners come in all shapes, sizes, ages, and attitudes. You will need to know how to provide learning experiences and boundaries based on your current classes’ multicultural, multigenerational, and multifaceted differences. You will quickly realize that what teaching methods work for your 21-year-old learner, will vastly differ from the needs of your 50-year-old learner who is now re-specializing from corporate American business to healthcare. Follow-up 1. How do you embody all those qualities in your practice as an academic nurse educator? Well, first I always keep in my mind that I was once a student before, I won’t tell you how long ago because I don’t want to date myself, but my philosophy to teaching is similar to my philosophy for nursing. My philosophy is to “teach the way I would want to be taught and nurse the way I would want to be nursed” Sounds a little biased at first, but what I mean is that I would want learning opportunities for self-growth that strengthen my nursing prowess. I was fortunate enough to have professors, preceptors, and mentors EVOLVING ROLES OF NURSE EDUCATORS 3 that provided me those opportunities, and as an academic nurse educator, I feel it is my responsibility to provide those opportunities to the future nurses of our communities. 2. What is your role in curriculum development, improvements, and program accreditation? I, I guess I should say all full-time faculty have a role in developing and maintaining syllabi for the nursing program. Our role as ANE is to tailor each syllabus and learning activities based on the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC), Board of Vocational Nursing requirements, Board of Registered Nursing requirements, QSEN learning outcomes, and the California Nurse Practice Act to name a few. All course curriculum outlines detail learning objectives that each learner will be able to complete by the end of the lesson to reinforce the daily lesson, and overall strengthen their nursing student prowess to prepare them for entry level or new graduate nursing. There are always areas we can improve on in our curriculum, and we base improvements on the students’ course evaluations at the end of each term. If something did not work for students, we immediately try to fix it and com