The
Role of the nursing educator in the 21st-century learning environment
Introduction
With advancements in
technology, changes in healthcare delivery, escalation of chronic non-communicable
diseases and an increasingly aging population, the need for the nurse educator is
critical. The nurse educator has a key
role in bridging theoretical instruction in clinical practice which cultivates
an authentic learning environment. According to Jamshidi,
Molazem, Sharif, Torabizadeh & Kalyani (2016) students’ exposure to the clinical learning environment is one of the most important factors affecting the
teaching-learning process in clinical settings.
Moreover, technological advancement has now called
for the integration of informatics in nursing education today. Subsequently
nursing educators must be knowledgeable and exposed to technology in order to
foster innovative strategies and engage nursing students in the learning
environment while ensuring students are developing the communication skills needed
in a highly interactive profession.
Nursing Education in the 21st Century
There exist a myriad of challenges in nursing
education in the 21st century.
One of the most significant challenges we face in nursing today is
determining at what level the basic educational preparation is needed for entry
as a professional nurse. The Government of the Bahama, Ministry of Health (2011) affirmed its position that a Bachelor of Science
Degree in Nursing would be the minimum level required to sit the Nursing
Council Examination for licensure as a Registered Nurse. Today Registered Nurses with Associate
degrees are encouraged to complete the RN-BSN bridge program face-to-face or
online by 2022. This motion prepares the
Associate degree nurse for the expanding professional roles as a result of an
evolving yet complex health care environment.
At the BSN level health care shifts to primary care and prevention with
less focus on in-hospital care, in addition, the baccalaureate degree prepares
the nurse to practice in a wide range of settings from one-to-one home care
nursing, elderly and psychiatric facilities to childcare and case
management. Pierce (2010) suggests that a broader base of knowledge, the better the ability to problem solve and further
construct new knowledge from seemingly unrelated information.
Secondly, nursing educators will be challenged to
develop nursing students who will provide care through adaptation of evidence-based practice and therefore lectures must incorporate evidenced-based teaching
and learning sessions. In this regard,
traditional teaching styles must be replaced with assimilation exercises and
demonstration and critical thinking scenarios addressing the basic nursing need to
more complex circumstances. Additionally,
rather than relying heavily on exams to evaluate nursing students’ learning, greater
emphasis will be placed on report writing and documentation alongside
simulation exercise review that will outweigh written examinations. Such strategies will serve as formative and
summative evaluation to measure learning.
Nursing educators play
a pivotal role in
strengthening the nursing workforce
by developing nurses with core competencies to deliver quality care. Therefore, educators serve as role models and are expected to
provide the leadership needed to implement evidence-based practice. With further responsibilities of planning,
implementing, evaluating and revising academic and continuing education
programs for nurses. Curriculum
revision means making modifications and changes in the current curriculum to
give new direction in conjunction with fine toning curriculum aims, objectives,
course contents, learning outcomes and assessment strategies (Ramasubramaniam & Grace 2015).
Challenges faced in Nursing Education
As a resource for student
nurses and new graduate nurses, nurse educators must socialize, protect, educate,
and evaluate the nursing students and new nurses who are making the transition
into healthcare facilities and hospitals.
We are faced with grave challenges in nursing education, namely: absence
of sufficient nurse educators, decreased enrolment of nursing students, lack of
clinical competency (nurse educator and student), increasingly complex needs of
patients, lack of resources and nurse educators experiencing burn out. Such challenges will continue to arise as we transition into the 21st century if we fail to collaborate globally and
strategically implement steps to overcome them.
UWI Nursing Education Practicum @ Terreve College
Nursing School (2019).
Overcoming the Challenges
The gap between theory and the clinical learning
environment and the approach of practice for the 21st century has been rapidly
widening. Education dissemination will follow the transformations and various dynamics in the healthcare
delivery system. To overcome the major
challenges in nursing education nurses are encouraged to pursue advanced level
degrees in nursing education/clinical preceptorship. This will alleviate some of the shortage felt
and ease the burden of the already stretched nurse educators. With more nurse educators on board, nursing
schools can now increase enrolment count to ensure continuity and strengthen
the workforce. To maximize resource
employees must assist by reducing wastage and advocating for necessary
equipment needed to facilitate caring for patients.
Overcoming Challenges: Understanding Instructional context, design models,
objectives and lesson plans
Nursing educators must ensure to equip themselves
with the knowledge base to plan, organize, develop and deliver detailed
information with vivid examples and must encourage feedback from learners. In addition, nurse educators must commit to continuous
training and research and deliver lessons in a format that meet the learning
needs of all students. Being creative,
innovative and in constant collaboration with colleagues and other healthcare
personnel are initial steps to meeting the goal of overcoming great
challenges. Moreover, gaining and
employing experienced nursing educators, attempting to enhance the learning
environment through technology and face-to-face, developing professional relationships
between faculty and practice, the participation of nurse educators in clinical
education, and planning in accordance with objectives will bring about the change we desire to see.
Conclusion
Our profession relies heavily on nursing
educators to build the bridge that takes nursing students from the classroom setting
to the hospital setting as a nurse. While theoretical instruction would not cover
every disorder, situation, or challenge nursing students will encounter when
caring for patients, the presence of the nurse educator will foster an environment
for clinical teaching and learning, socialization, safe environment,
professional practice, and advocacy. A study by Lawal, Weaver, Bryan & Lindo
(2017) explored factors that influenced the clinical learning experience of
students in a Caribbean hospital concluded that positive interpersonal
relationships and the use of demonstration and return demonstration were identified
as being influential within the learning environment. The challenges of nursing
education in the 21st century will require the attention of the entire nursing
profession to develop and ensure a desired future vision for nursing.
References:
Jamshidi, N., Molazem, Z., Sharif, F.,
Torabizadeh, C., Kalyani, M. (2016). The challenges of nursing students in the
clinical learning environment: A Qualitative Study. The Scientific World Journal, Volume 2016. Article ID 1846178, 7
pages
Retrieved from https://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2016/1846178/
Lawal, J.,
Weaver, S., Bryan, V., Lindo, J. (2015). Factors that influence the clinical
learning
experience of nursing students at a Caribbean school of nursing. Journal of Nursing
Education Practice
6 (4). DOI: 10.5430/jnep.v6n4p32
Peirce AG (2010). The essential imperative of basic
nursing education: an ethical discourse.
ANS Adv Nurs Sci 33:
320-328.
Ramasubramaniam, S., Grace, A. (2015). Curriculum
development in nursing education.
Where is the
pathway? IOSR Journal of Nursing and
Health Science (IOSR-JNHS)e-
ISSN: 23201959.p- ISSN:
2320 1940 Volume 4, Issue 5 Ver. III (Sep. - Oct. 2015), PP 76-
81www.iosrjournals.org.
DOI: 10.9790/1959-04537681 www.iosrjournals.org 76 | Page
Hi Nursing Education Zone, great writeup! I am very interested in how educators can overcome the challenges. If you are teaching more than one course, how can you overcome this challenge? Lesson plan and use of instructional models like BOPPPS or ASSURE will help overcome some of the challenges and be effective in the teaching-learning process. Nursing students are adult learners and active participation, interaction or engagement is important. The community of inquiry framework indicates the importance of interaction in teaching presence, social presence and cognitive presence to create an educational experience.
ReplyDeleteHello Nellie, thank you for your response. I do agree that lesson plans utilizing instructional models as ASSURE and BOPPS will assist in the teaching and learning process. In addition if an educator is teaching more than one course time management and the ability to plan and organize assignment will be of great assistance. I am currently working toward improving my time management skills.
DeleteGood morning Munnings
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog.....
I am also in agreement with the notion of encouraging nurses to fully upgrade themselves with advanced degrees. In order to move forward and deliver educational instruction one must always remain a few steps ahead of the students. One cannot have a Bachelors degree and expect to lecturer at a Masters Level. That will not work. The nursing students today are advancing themselves like never before. So my plea today will be to encourage nursing educators to continue to advance and specialize in areas that they are interested in to be more efficient and effective on the job. Thankyou
Hello Dorothea, thank you for your review. I do agree that as nurse educators we must continue gain advanced degrees and specialty certifications should we intend to function exceptionally in the capacity we hold.
DeleteHi Kennisha.
ReplyDeleteA great blog post you have made. I like the fact where you have stated that lecturers need to teach with evidence-based practices. The impact of evidence-based practice (EBP) has echoed across nursing practice, education, and science. The call for evidence-based quality improvement and healthcare transformation underscores the need for redesigning care that is effective, safe and efficient. However you have stated about curriculum review. How will curriculum review strengthen the nursing workforce?
I also like the fact where you have stated that nursing educators need to upgrade with current new knowledge and research. Nurse educators should be taking part in nursing research that will contribute to new nursing evidence based practices and add on to the literature.
Hello Salvindra thank you for supporting nursing research, hopefully we will reach a mark where nurse educators must Contribute to at least 1 research study every 3 years. Think of the rich evidence we would retrieve, that can possible assist in the delivery of healthcare nationwide.
DeleteHi Kennisha, very very informative. Indeed there is a need for nursing educators as you so rightfully found. In your essay you stated that...."Nursing educators must ensure to equip themselves with the knowledge base to plan, organize, develop and deliver detailed information with vivid examples and must encourage feedback from learners"....i so agree. We as budding educators must be knowledgable and skillful to meet the needs of our future nursing population.
ReplyDeleteHello Tessa, thank you for your support in the above statement. As we embark on this exciting field as nurse educators I am confident that through continuous networking,education upgrading and support we will produce a highly skilled workforce.
DeleteHi Kennisha.
ReplyDeleteI found this post to be very insightful. I particularly liked the point you raised that nurse educators need to stay current/up-to-date with technology and their teaching practices. This has a huge impact. Not only does this impact what they do, but it also influences how they it - i.e. teach. What are some of the ways in which you try to stay abreast in this regard?
Regards,
Justin Z.
Greetings Dr. Zephyrine,
DeleteThank you for your response. As a champion reader from primary school where I read and completed 75 short story book reports during 6th grade, I must say my appreciation of books has brought me thus far. In order to stay abreast with technology and teaching and learning, I read periodicals, journals, nurse informatics blogs, and surf the internet all to acquire the latest trends and information. Additionally I am actively involved in a number of organizations, currently holding the position of Branch Chairperson of the Nurses Association of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. To this end I am delighted to have in my network several "computer geniuses and tech savvy" colleagues who do not hesitate to share knowledge. I also attend continuing education sessions, seminars, and nursing research symposiums. As an aspiring nurse educator my mission is to train and develop future nurses while ensuring to continue developing myself because learning never ends.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Kennisha,
ReplyDeleteYou have done a clearly developed and outlined post about the challenges which nurse educators have to deal with. I like how you was able to bring out the need to incorporate EPB in addition to learning online: online is just a tool to get us there. You have mentioned that a greater emphasis will be placed on report writing, documentation and simulation exercises as forms of assessments. While these aspects are important, I will like to add that clinical assessments is just as if not more important than those because while simulators can create potential scenarios for us, ultimately it is real, live people whom nurses have to deliver care to.