The Advanced Practice Nurse As A Clinical Educator Discussion
Institutions experiencing nurse educator shortages hire nurse practitioners with no prior teaching experience and mastery of adult learning theory to perform clinical nurse educator roles. The nurses assume the title of Clinical Nurse Educators (CNE). However, since they have no training for the new position, the transition process becomes challenging for most of them. The delivery of content in nursing differs significantly from practicing nursing. Although nurse practitioners possess expertise in healthcare delivery, they lack the knowledge and skill to convey clinical proficiency (Toll, 2020)The Advanced Practice Nurse As A Clinical Educator Discussion. Hence, they should develop specific competencies and learn particular strategies to enable them to achieve a smooth and successful transition.
Nurse practitioners transitioning into clinical nurse educators must possess teaching capabilities. They must understand the unique characteristics of adult nurses and determine how they acquire knowledge to facilitate the learning process. Rather than focus on their learning, the educators must develop the ability to guide students to master the basic and advanced knowledge and skills that will enable them to become competent professional nurses. They should acknowledge that the adult learners have a wealth of experience and well-defined goals which they intend to achieve at the end of every training session. The learners also desire to present their opinions about their education. Additionally, nurse educators must learn to seek answers and apply new information to real-life problems The Advanced Practice Nurse As A Clinical Educator Discussion.
The clinical nurse educators must also be competent in evaluation and testing. Testing and evaluating new faculty may be one of the most challenging tasks. Nurse educators must learn to develop and use various evaluation tools to assess learners. They must also learn to give feedback, encourage those who do not achieve the expected outcomes and offer constructive guidance to improve learner performance. Careful assessment of students’ clinical performance ensures that learners deliver high-quality and safe care. Nurse educators must also learn how to develop course programs. They should be able to determine the type of content each group needs to receive, sequence information logically, and understand how content fits into a course and the entire nursing program (Fitzgerald, McNelis & Billings, 2020)The Advanced Practice Nurse As A Clinical Educator Discussion. Other competencies include interpersonal skills, leadership capabilities and the ability to use evidence-based teaching practices.
Clinical nurse educators aim to produce nurses who possess the capacity to deliver safe and quality healthcare services. Consequently, the educators must apply various strategies to achieve the goal. They should employ interactive teaching and learning strategies, including virtual simulation, seminars, group work, problem-based learning, flipped classrooms and information sharing (Horntvedt et al., 2018)The Advanced Practice Nurse As A Clinical Educator Discussion. Such methods ensure learners acquire knowledge and practical experience from multiple sources to enhance their competence levels.
The clinical nurse educator should also use methods that enable students to research disease interventions and nursing practice. Research utilization improves the learners’ critical thinking, information literacy and literature evaluation skills. The strategy also ensures that nurses understand how to use evidence-based practices to deliver patient care. Lastly, the educator must apply a technology-based approach to promote student engagement and develop their skill-set. Such techniques include online technologies, videos, asynchronous discussion boards, and virtual communities (Ghasemi, Moonaghi & Heydari, 2020)The Advanced Practice Nurse As A Clinical Educator Discussion. Other strategies include clinical collaboration and the use of assignments as learning activities.
Nurse practitioners who change their roles from providing healthcare services to delivering content in education settings face significant challenges during the transition process. Since they have no prior training for the education role, they must prepare by learning the various nurse educator competencies. They should also understand the best practice strategies that will enhance content delivery and impart the correct knowledge and skills to learners. Examples of common competencies include training capabilities, interpersonal skills and testing and evaluation The Advanced Practice Nurse As A Clinical Educator Discussion.
References
Fitzgerald, A., McNelis, A. M., & Billings, D. M. (2020). NLN core competencies for nurse educators: are they present in the course descriptions of academic nurse educator programs?. Nursing education perspectives, 41(1), 4-9.
Ghasemi, M. R., Moonaghi, H. K., & Heydari, A. (2020). Strategies for sustaining and enhancing nursing students’ engagement in academic and clinical settings: a narrative review. Korean Journal of medical education, 32(2), 103. https://doi.org/10.3946%2Fkjme.2020.159
Horntvedt, M. E. T., Nordsteien, A., Fermann, T., & Severinsson, E. (2018). Strategies for teaching evidence-based practice in nursing education: a thematic literature review. BMC medical education, 18(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-018-1278-z The Advanced Practice Nurse As A Clinical Educator Discussion
Toll, C. (2020). Clinical Nurse Experts’ Experience of Transitioning to the Novice Nurse Educator Role (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University).
The Advanced Practice Nurse as a Clinical Educator
Purpose
The purpose of this discussion is to evaluate the skills and competencies needed to be an effective clinical nurse educator and promote safe, high-quality patient-centered nursing care The Advanced Practice Nurse As A Clinical Educator Discussion.
Instructions
Reflect on the lesson and readings this week and respond to the following: