Educational Philosophy
I am not new to the role of nurse or educator, but to the role of nursing educator. My motivation to teach future generations of nurses prompted my transition from a clinical nurse to an academic nurse educator. My interest in teaching comes from my own positive experiences as an undergraduate student and from a love of learning. My educational philosophy is a work in progress as I continue to grow as a nurse, educator, and scholar of nursing education. As a novice nursing educator today, I plan on progressing to the path of an expert. The purpose of this paper is to express my educational philosophy in terms of teaching and learning, teaching and learning strategies, student learning goals, and the learning environment.
Teaching and Learning
I believe in a cooperative learning pedagogy where teachers guide students’ education and stimulate them to think critically, analyze complex situations, and problem solve. Learning is a lifelong partnership between both teacher and student. There has to be mutual respect and a common goal to facilitate learning. Therefore, students must agree to take responsibility for their learning in order to engage and teachers must be willing to engage. My role as a teacher is to assist students through evidence-based practice, scholarly inquiry, and research.
Learning is on a continuum that does not stop but constantly changes and develops for both teachers and students. Learning is more than memorizing facts; it is about
identify the educational preparation and role(s) of the clinical nurse leader (CNL) designation. Give an example of how the CNL influences direct patient care whether in a hospital or out in the community.
Health promotion includes providing activities that improve a person’s health. These activities assist patients to “maintain or enhance their present levels of health. Health promotion activities motivate people to act positively to reach more stable levels of health” (Potter & Perry, 2005, p. 97). In order for nurses to assist patients in obtaining healthy lifestyles, they must first assess a patient’s perception of health. The World Health Organization defines health as a “state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (as cited in Potter & Perry, 2005, p. 91). There are many nursing theories that are based on an individual’s perception of health. This paper will
The role of a family nurse practitioner is a fundamental portion of the future of healthcare. The role is clearly not as understood by other healthcare professionals as needed which results in the disagreement if the role of a family nurse practitioner is even required for primary care. As people are getting older, the need for medical professionals that can provide patient care to our ever growing population increases. The need for the role of family nurse practitioners will grow too. The role of the family nurse practitioner, the ability of the FNP to be able to transition into their role.
As the demand for nursing education grows and with the rapidly advancing roles of nursing, educators need to stay up-to-date. “Theory-based practice provides nurses with a perspective” (Parker, 2006, p.28). With the comprehension and use of educational theories, nursing educators can support student knowledge and development into practice. These theories are outlines of cohesive concepts and principals that describe, explain, or predict how people learn. Every one learns differently and as an educator you need to be familiarized with and open to the use of one or more combinations of theories to successfully teach adult learners in this ever changing health care system. This paper will highlight the use of Constructivist Learning Theory and its application to nursing practice.
The webinar titled “Succeeding as a Nurse Educator” was presented by Diane Billings, EdD, RN, FAAN. The three objectives for the webinar were to be able to “differentiate between the roles of faculty appointment: teaching, service, and scholarship; implement strategies for working smarter, not harder; and develop a career plan for success as a nurse educator” (Billings, 2013).
Nursing students today are diverse with different learning styles. Nursing educators must shape students to become critical thinkers and there are a host of approaches for instructors to develop needed teaching skills (Kostovich et al., 2007). There are many models of education styles; one to fashion teaching after is from Kolb’s model in 1985 which suggests matching learning methods to teaching approaches. However, educators need to become proficient in identifying individual student learning styles. Nursing educators should also recognize their own teaching style and the effect it has on learner development and socialization (National League for Nursing, 2007). The National League for Nursing (NLN) has developed eight core
The role of nurse practitioner is valuable when discussing collaborative care. There are so many levels of care, so many health entities, and so many insurer criteria involved that it is instrumental to have a role that can work towards help bring all aspects together. In addition to diagnosing, treating, and managing care, the role of the nurse practitioner is to manage simple and episodic acute health issues along with chronic disease (Sangster-Gormley, Martin-Misener, & Burge, 2013). It is important to note that although this is a function of this role, nurse practitioners also practice from a holistic point of view which allows them to help manage patient conditions or wellness in a more complete fashion. This includes helping patients have access to care beyond primary and secondary care settings. This encourages nurse practitioners to work alongside other health care and allied health professions, and families to create an individualized plan for every patient (van
As of 2008, there were about 753,600 Licensed Practical Nurses and 2,618,700 Registered Nurses in the United States (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010-11). In the year 2018, the LPN employment percentage is expected to rise 21% while the RN rate should be approximately 22% (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010-11). This may not seem that high, but it is, when one considers that the expected employment rate for a Dentist is only expected to be 16% (U.S Department of Labor, 2010-11). Nursing is a highly respected and sought after career because every person that enters this profession is able to make a difference and is needed by the general population for his/her skills and contributions to the medical field. When a person is contemplating entering
I realized I wanted to be a nurse after I had my 2nd ACL surgery, my senior year of high school. I had to stay in the hospital 3 days in order to recover, and I was very lucky to have such a wonderful and caring nurse. She made me feel as if I was her only patient. I will never forget how well I was taken care of and how comfortable she made me feel. I was young and scared, but she was reassuring, because she made me feel as if I had my own mother taking care of me. She was the reason I wanted to become a nurse, because I wanted to make others feel the way she made me feel. My personal definition of nursing is encompassed within that one nurse. A nurse should be loving, compassionate, dependable, competent, empathic, responsible,
It is not a secret that for many years there has been a detrimental nursing shortage in the United States. Factors that contribute to the unfortunate decrease in availability of nurses and other health care professionals can be attributed to a shortage of nursing school instructors which impacts enrollment into nursing schools, and many in the health care profession are nearing retirement age. The need for health care continues to steadily increase as the baby boomer generation ages. In order to meet these demands, there has to be adequate staff in the workplace. After an extended amount of time dealing with unsafe staff to patient ratio it has come the time to take action and devise solutions rather than letting patient care suffer. After comparing a variety of possible solutions, the most feasible was to create and implement a clear updated set of regulations, and formulate a law to enforce the same. The proposed solution will address the ineffectiveness of current health care staffing regulations, propose a law that will enforce safe staff to patient ratios, mandate that all parties involved in developing health care laws be members of the health care field themselves, and work to maintain a strict continuous reassessment phase to ensure that all changes remain beneficial. With the help of the entire health care community the implementation of this proposed solution will create a dramatic decrease in adverse patient outcomes while increasing patient and staff
Johnson and Romanello (2005). Each unique generation comes with diverse learning and teaching needs. Therefore, nurse educators must be knowledgeable in a multitude of teaching methods and learning theories.
The common goals of nurses are to render quality-nursing care towards the patients. Nursing workforce consists of different quality of nurses, age groups, attitudes and behaviours. In order to expedite the goal successfully, the nursing workforce needs to work in unity to build an organized team. A team is important and a nurse needs to practice leadership to facilitate team processes, job satisfaction and work performance to accomplish clinical objectives of the organization.
As a nurse, we are responsible for not only the holistic care of our patients, but also as a collaborator, and advocator, and more importantly, an educator. Many people do not realize the influence that a nurse has over a patient when it comes to education. We are responsible for making sure that the person understands everything about how to care for themselves, and most often we are left to answer any questions that the patient may have regarding to the care to which they or a family member are receiving. With this paper, I was able to fully embrace the educator side of nursing practice.
My career aspiration is driven by my goal of becoming a Nurse Practitioner. I want to be able to have the autonomy to practice as a provider and contribute my quota in improving the health of the community. I am excited to learn specific theories that empower nurses as an integral part of the care continuum. The importance of the foundation laid down by various nursing theorist cannot be over emphasized. These theories have built a frame work that continues to guide our profession. I am thrilled with the opportunity to immerse myself in studying Nursing Theories solely as a course. This class will undoubted enlightened me to the great contributions made by those before me for this noble profession. I am convinced that, at the end of these 5.5 weeks, I will be better prepared to apply some of the concepts of the nursing theories in my daily practice as a practitioner.
Nursing is universal in the sense that nurses can be found almost in all countries around the world (Henderson, 1978). They are in the hospitals, in school clinics, in the community centres, residential homes and even play major roles in some of the popular soap operas in television. There are even television shows that mainly revolve around nurses and which chronicles what they do at work - both the positive and the negative. It is one of the most visible and easily identifiable occupations as compared for example to other occupations such as engineers, managers or even pharmacists, medical technologists and other health related occupations. This is partly because of what nurses do and most especially how nurses look - with some still