C918 Evolving Roles of Nurse Educators in Diverse Environments.

C918 Evolving Roles of Nurse Educators in Diverse Environments.




C918 Evolving Roles of Nurse Educators in Diverse Environments



Western Governors University

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EDUCATORS
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

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EDUCATORS
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 come up with new and

innovative ways to relay the information to the learners.

Follow-up 2. How do you structure your classes to help students achieve those learning

objectives?

I know my classes always have practice NCLEX style question and answer

sessions about the days topic where we are able to review need to know information,

while practicing how to dissect NCLEX style questions and strengthen their critical

thinking skills. To me, learning how to approach NCLEX style questions in addition to

being able to apply nursing content and critical thinking to practice is what helps learners

achieve those outcomes.