The Nurse Educator - Literature review Example

The Nurse Educator The Nurse Educator A nurse educator is a nurse that has specialized in teaching and preparing nurses that have completed nursing training and have legal registration to venture into practical nursing. They serve as the gateway between trained nurses and their career paths because they help them get into practice. In essence, nurse educators facilitate their training in advanced levels of nursing training like masters and doctorate levels. In essence, nurse education depicts the theoretical and practical approach that prepares nurses to be professionals in their line of specialty. In many countries, provision of nurse education draws relevance from non specialized to specialized areas within the field. However, individual training in the nursing field have assurance in experiencing a return on investment for their future because the program enables individuals to diversify into areas of choice. This means that various disciplines taught have affiliation to medicine through the encompassing of intense research tactics relative to making clinical decisions. Therefore, this essay will delve on the advantages and challenges of venturing into nursing education as compared to other professions for nurse educators. The advantages of being a nurse educator i) A contributor to lifelong learning For one, being a nurse educator serves as an avenue for continued learning because it is one of the diverse ways of cultivating knowledge. In essence, the most impactual way of learning is through the giving of knowledge to trainees and in this case to those trained as nursing students. In addition, teaching as a nurse educator helps one to share on their experience with a new crop of professionals to influence better health care provision. Being a nurse educator also contributes to being in a life long and progressive learning because it helps one to stay current with changing information in the nursing world. For instance, being an educator helps one to stay connected to advancements in technology related to nursing as one cannot teach what they do not know (Young & Paterson, 2006). Therefore, this helps a nurse educator to stay knowledgeable and relevant to nursing and health care field. This translates to a common fact that effective nurse educators are those who have not stopped their knowledge expansion process. ii) Creates value for the profession In essence, being a nurse educator serves as a way of cultivating value for society as this professional helps in the shaping of the future for upcoming nurses (Berry, 2002). This means that a nurse educator helps students understand the worth of their line of training to society because it forms an integral part. In addition, the work of a nurse educator through research draws respect and value of society because it steers nursing towards the recommended path. This means that nurse educators have the opportunity to further change society as compared to helping it through treatment alone. Therefore, a nurse educator may have other vital roles to play other than focusing on the nursing and treatment. iii) A nurse educator has teaching opportunities across the world Arguably, the teaching profession has no borders especially in the nursing industry because there are many global opportunities for training services. In essence, being a nurse educator in developing countries is rewarding as compared to any other country in the world. This is because a nurse educator has the ability to bring a new crop of leadership in an area that has minimal or no health care providers. Therefore, being a teacher in this line of specialty helps create an avenue for teaching opportunities across the world rather than staying stuck in an area that nurses are plenty. Therefore, a nurse educator has the ability to penetrate other job markets rather than focusing on changing a saturated teaching market. iv) Being a nurse educator helps one to lead a fulfilled life Ideally, it is the ultimate achievement when a teacher sees their students succeed and surpass their level of achievement. In essence, teachers mold nursing students into being better nurses or healthcare providers than they were due to the opportunity given to them. Subsequently, the mentoring of others in gaining recognition and accreditation makes a nursing educator proud of having been the one that facilitated the growth of their careers leading to fulfilled lives. v) A nurse educator may work beyond a classroom Arguably, technological advancements have enabled nurse educators to facilitate learning beyond the restrictions posed by a classroom. For instance, online chat and video conferencing has enabled learning to be of relative ease of learning audience in far most places and with different work schedules. Therefore, a nurse educator may record their lessons online making it available to a larger audience making their impact go beyond the confines of a lecture hall (Gaberson & Oermann, 2010). vi) Allows one to make prestigious research A nurse educator has the advantage of making their research published as a way of improving the quality of health care (Hunt, 2012). This means that by being a nurse educator one is able to experience unlimited access to channels that have the capabilities to facilitate their research. Therefore, this teacher has adequate time to make their research successful as they have indispensable resources to everything they would need in their research. This is quite contrary to the experience of self sponsored researchers who have no access to research materials making their work take more time before completion. vii) A nurse educator receives immense emotional rewards The beauty of being a nurse educator is that one gets to witness the sacrifices and the hard work that students put towards gaining success as professionals. This serves as a rewarding experience because a nurse educator enjoys the comfort of knowing that they have a continued legacy of nurses that would give the required care. In addition, the advantage of being a nurse educator is that one is able to invest a cognitive amount of time and energy in ensuring that their students learn the absolute best from them. Further, the rewarding aspect comes when these students succeed beyond expectations in their nursing program. viii) A nurse educator allows others to learn from their experience As many would say, experience serves as the most substantial way of acquiring and disseminating information across many learning aspects. The situation does not change in teaching within nursing aspects of learning because a nurse educator has a seasoned attribute. The interpretation is that the longer one has been win the profession in any aspect of the nursing industry, the more conversant they become with the nursing program. Therefore, the number of years that one dedicates into this service draws reward because it becomes of benefit to the students as they tend to relate to real life scenarios rather than theory. Additionally, having prior experience for a nurse educator helps an individual to help students learn from the costly mistakes that the educator might have made. Subsequently, the sharing of past errors made allows an educator to avoid such future occurrences for their students. ix) A nurse educator helps in molding the future for healthcare Ideally, nursing is a practice that has been a constant factor in all generations that have existed in this world. Despite various hurdles, nursing in all generations facilitated the growth and passing on the of the mantle from one generation to the next. For instance, nursing applies when a child comes into the world through the care that the child experiences to ensure that they survive. Therefore, by being a nurse educator one is able to participate in the investment of a better future for healthcare provision (Berry, 2002). This means that a nurse educator has the immense responsibility of ensuring that nursing students acquire standard education that adequately equips them for nursing practice. x) Being a nurse educator allows one to stay young A majority of those undergoing nursing education tends to be the vibrant and energetic young adults that have a bright life for them. This means that a nurse educator interacts with these young adults with infectious enthusiasm to the extent that one gets drawn into making significant strides with and for them. Additionally, these students also tend to be rather inquisitive as compared to any other age under the nursing education program hence challenging one to be better. Subsequently, their excitement makes a nurse educator look forward to making them relevant in their line of profession as it draws passion of service. Disadvantages of being a nurse educator i) No guarantee that students would follow in the path of their educations As much as a nurse educator serves as mentor for nursing students, there is no assurance that these students would turn out exactly as the educator would want. This means that the students entrusted with the guidance of the educator may choose not to uphold the qualitative skills required during execution of nursing roles as taught by their mentors. In most cases, students tend to take this path that ends up harming the ego of the educator making them despair from nurturing other students. Therefore, taking a teaching career as a nurse educator does not assure one that their contribution would be impacting on their students. ii) Adherence to code of conduct Like any other profession, the nursing profession has a set of rules and norms that tend to govern the conduct of nursing professionals. Ideally, the code of conduct in nursing education requires one to take responsibility for their actions in case of misconduct hence allowing little room for mistakes. This means that a nurse educator needs to conduct teaching in a manner that may not jeopardize their performance by endangering the lives of others. Therefore, being a nurse educator requires a lot of sensitivity as it involves a number of relevant individuals that have the conviction for advancing knowledge. iii) A nurse educator has to have high competency levels Ideally, a nurse educator requires substantial information and education on all aspects of the nursing program especially in their field of specialty. This is a principal requirement that translates to years of study and betterment. Moreover, having minimal experience in the nursing field hinders one from properly executing their teaching duties as the dissemination of information would be irrelevant to the students. Therefore, an educator must possess adequate education and competency levels in order for them to stay relevant in this critical field. iv) A nurse educator may have too much responsibility to shoulder Usually, a nurse educator may also have the responsibility of taking care of patients as part of their work routines. One has to juggle with teaching new nurses and also including healthcare provision to enhance the nursing program in a facility. This translates into extended shifts that may cause poor performance because of fatigue. In essence, one gives poor work output if their bodies do not get adequate rest. Subsequently, being a nurse educator would mean that one would have to give heir time to ensure that they fulfill their obligations resulting from hectic work schedules. v) High education levels are mandatory In many instances, becoming a nurse educator requires one to have a masters or doctoral level of education hence an undergraduate becomes a non viable candidate (Flynn & Stack, 2006). In essence, this requirement frustrates individuals that have a passion to teach nursing because their education levels become a hindrance to their passion. Moreover, one needs to show their track record and contribution to the industry before they become suited for a nursing educator position. These two aspects may discourage one from making their contribution in shaping the future of the nursing industry (Berry, 2002). vi) Ill treatment from directors Most commonly, those at the lower level of the nursing cluster receive poor treatment from those in the upper nursing educator positions and directors. This would mean that they would lay down most of their obligations to a new educator simply because they have not yet caught a drift of how the institution operates. In effect, this dampens their morale because of the work load deposited on the new educators had the intention of making them quite. However, most first time nursing educators survive the pressure and end up being good at their teaching (Flynn & Stack, 2006). vii) Nurse education is a hands on experience On the contrary, being a nurse educator is a messy affair as compared to teaching in other professions where delegation of task may apply. This means that a nurse educator has to come into contact with human body fluids such as blood as part of driving information home. Moreover, nursing education is a practical approach rather than a theoretic one because it mostly involves dealing with actual substances. In this regard, one should not venture into this form of teaching if they cannot stomach blood contact and many others. This means that there is no confinement to learning within a classroom setting, but practicality applies. viii) Development of additional skills is essential For one, an individual intending to be a nurse educator should be one with intense levels of creativity and communicative skills (Herrman, 2008). An educator that does not have these qualities may find it difficult to trigger the minds of their students to inspire enthusiasm. In this regard, one would need to undergo additional training on matters pertaining to self esteem and self confidence as a way of achieving quality output. Essentially, this additional training translates to more learning costs before one acquires employment as a nurse educator. ix) Financial constraints may hinder research Continuous research forms the basic component of ensuring that the nursing program achieves results (Hunt, 2012). However, a nurse educator may find it challenging if the institutions that they render their services to disburse funds essential for research with difficulty. Moreover, the disbursed funds require detailed accounting on how they facilitated the project to which many find as a challenge because research tends to take long before they get to completion. This delay may present a misrepresentation of figures as there is the likelihood of forgetting certain figures from a past time. Additionally, an institution may decide to withdraw research funding before completion, as they would view the research as a waste of time needed resources. This may also create a challenge as nurse educators should remain faithful to their institutions making them unable to seek outside funding to complete their projects. x) It is an expensive venture Over time, nursing education and being a nurse educator has become one of the most expensive professions because of the constant touch that the profession has with technology (Young & Paterson, 2006). For instance, a nurse educator has to be a step ahead in ensuring that have the knowledge and the skill required when an equipment relevant to the profession hits the market. Ideally, it becomes embarrassing for this educator to hear of certain developed equipments from their students because of poor research. Therefore, it is the prime responsibility of teachers in this field to sharpen their knowledge constantly in order for them to remain relevant to the practice. Conclusion A nurse educator as a professional in the nursing industry has advantages and challenges that revolve around it. For instance, this teacher has opportunities of working in other parts of the world where there is need to bring up a new crop of healthcare professionals. Despite the challenges presented by this teaching practice, the fulfillment achieved is rewarding as one helps in ensuring that there is a quality healthcare provision in the future. Therefore, the challenges met are worth overcoming as the global demand for nursing professionals remains at remarkable high. References Berry, L. (2002). From nurse to educator: Creating effective learning experiences for adults. Albuquerque, NM: Hartman Pub. Flynn, J. P., & Stack, M. C. (2006). The role of the preceptor: A guide for nurse educators, clinicians, and managers. New York: Springer Pub. Gaberson, K. B., & Oermann, M. H. (2010). Clinical teaching strategies in nursing. New York: Springer Pub. Herrman, J. W. (2008) Creative Teaching Strategies for Nurse Educator. Michigan: F a Davis Company. Hunt, D. D. (2012). The new nurse educator: Mastering academe. New York: Springer Pub. Co. Young, L. E., & Paterson, B. L. (2006). Teaching nursing: Developing a student-centered learning environment. Philadelphia, Penns: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Read More