Nurses Preparedness for Effective Teaching and Learning Assignment
Nursing extends beyond the field of medical care as it is usually a multifaceted profession. Nurses often find themselves in positions where they act as educators to provide health information to families, patients, the community, and among other nurses. However, they lack adequate skills in formal preparations for the principles of teaching and learning. This paper discusses whether nurses are adequately prepared to assess learning needs, readiness to learn, and learning styles and discusses how future nurse educators can participate in the transformation of the process of how nurses are educated. Nurses Preparedness for Effective Teaching and Learning Assignment
Nurses are not adequately prepared to serve as educators and researchers. While nurse educators must be prepared to assess learning needs, readiness to learn, and integrate effective learning styles, this is not the case. Assessing learning needs is important in addressing educational gaps that promote positive patient outcomes. In addition, learning styles are effective in enhancing individual interactions in the learning environment. However, it becomes a challenge because while the role of nurse educators requires clinical expertise and pedagogical practice, nursing programs have now focused on clinical specialization rather than nursing administration and education. According to Bagley et al., (2018) educational programs have focused more on clinical specialization which results in more nurses practicing at the advanced practice level and fewer nurses at the nurse education and faculty levels. Since education and nursing are different, clinical expertise is therefore insufficient for teaching expertise. While effective teaching requires specialized skills, teaching strategies, evaluation methods and the ability to participate in research preparation for such roles and responsibilities remains absent in many nursing programs curricula. Nurses Preparedness for Effective Teaching and Learning Assignment
In their role as nurse educators, it is often a challenge for many nurses to assess whether information disseminated is received and understood. While most are adequately equipped with clinical expertise but lack adequate skills and knowledge in principles of teaching and learning. In relaying information, it is essential that nurses possess diverse learning styles and the skills to assess learning needs. According to Farsi et al. (2018) nurses in the role of clinical educator lack adequate and updated knowledge, skills, and unpreparedness for clinical teaching which is important in gauging understanding of the information provided. While gauging understanding involves adapting teaching methods and learning styles to diverse population needs, nurses lack the skills to identify and adopt teaching approaches tailored to enhancing understanding of information. As such, nursing programs should integrate pedagogical competencies into their curricula, that prepare nurses for nurse educator roles.
As a nurse educator, I can participate in the transformation of preparing nurses for the nurse educator role by advocating for the integration of teaching and learning principles in nursing programs. Integrating pedagogy practice will help nurses effectively translate what they practice to what they teach. In addition, (Han et al., 2021) state all providers and nurses are educators and need to have standard skills that support teaching and learning. As such, integrating teaching educational courses and experiential learning strategies in nursing graduate programs will equip future nursing faculty with relevant skills in preparation for the nurse educator role. Nurses Preparedness for Effective Teaching and Learning Assignment
In conclusion, the nursing profession extends beyond direct patient care and encompasses the aspect of teaching and learning. However, nurses are not adequately equipped for the nurse educator role. This is because nurse programs have focused more on clinical expertise rather than nurse administration and education. Since all nurses play the role of nurse educators at some point in their careers, integrating pedagogical competencies in nursing programs will enhance preparation for the nurse educator role.
References
Bagley, K., Hoppe, L., Brenner, G. H., Crawford, M., & Weir, M. (2018). Transition to nursing faculty: Exploring the barriers. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 13(4), 263–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teln.2018.03.009
Farzi, S., Haghani, F., & Farzi, S. (2018). The challenges of clinical evaluation and the approaches to improve it from the nursing students’ perspective: A qualitative study. Education and Ethics in Nursing, 5(1), 27–33. https://doi.org/10.52547/ethicnurs.5.1.27
Han, H., D’Aoust, R., Gross, D., Szanton, S., Nolan, M., Campbell, J., & Davidson, P. (2021). Preparing future nursing faculty: Integrating enhanced teaching and leadership development curricula into Phd education. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 78(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14982 Nurses Preparedness for Effective Teaching and Learning Assignment
Although all nurses are expected to teach as part of their licensing criteria, many lack formal preparation in the principles of teaching and learning. Consider the following questions:
Is every nurse adequately prepared to assess for learning needs, readiness to learn, and learning styles?
Can every nurse determine whether the information given is actually received and understood?
Discuss how you as a future nurse educator can participate in the transformation of the process of how nurses are educated. Nurses Preparedness for Effective Teaching and Learning Assignment