Extending the Role of the Cancer Nurse - Assignment Example

"The current emphasis on providing quality undergraduate and postgraduate medical education has focused attention on the educational responsibilities of all doctors. There is a greater awareness of the need to train doctors as educators and courses have been set up to satisfy this need" (Hesketh 2001, pg 556). Another training that this individual must go through is how to develop curriculum and effective lesson planning. It is important that they also develop the skills to communicate with students as well as appraising and assessing a student's progress.

These skills can be obtained by attending courses focused on the training of teachers. Health care professionals can also be teachers who work with individuals already employed in the health care industry. Such roles may include providing education for staff development and continuing education. The teaching individual must keep current on the latest technology and training available in the field in order to communicate that to colleagues. Another method for obtaining the information to be taught is by participating in the industry, as a nurse, as a doctor or professional or even as a researcher.

"Nurses are increasingly involved in clinical trials. Any nurse involved in clinical trials may perform one or more of the following roles; patient educator, patient ally, direct caregiver, coordinator of care and research administrator of research resources and participant in the conduct of the study" (Ambaum 1997, pg. 5316). These increasing responsibilities for nurses also open up a whole new world of opportunities for these individuals. Now, they can not only be educators in the 'normal' sense of the world but in other situations as well.

In order for these professionals to do so, they must have the support that any teaching professional would need to accomplish their objective. "A medical educator has needs that are specific to educators and needs that are common to all medical faculty members. And educator needs time to perform educational duties, space to carry out educational activities, and money to buy time, space and other resources." " Just as important as time, space, and money are to the success of an educator is having an infrastructure that supports the educator and the educational mission" (Collins 2005, pp 914-915).

According to Collins, creating such an infrastructure would include building a system that could provide educational leadership opportunities, funding for medical educational research, students, student, and peer feedback and faculty development and mentoring.