The nursing education program has been effective in hospitals since the 19th century. This implementation occurred due to the increased medical needs in 1869. There was a significant shortage of nurses because of the Civil War. Therefore, the American Medical Association promoted these programs because they were supposed to help people who sustained injuries in these wars. Since then, it has substantially evolved and played a crucial role in the healthcare industry. Nursing education is the formal training and learning in nursing science. It is professional education that prepares them to provide the best care. Nurse educators instruct and teach nurses. They work in clinical settings, universities, and colleges. They are RNs with advanced nursing degrees. Any qualified nurse educator must comprehend the necessities of nursing and the workload policies. This paper discusses my area of specialization, my philosophy statement, how I can apply it to tripartite roles, and how historical occurrences have molded my role.
Health Care Area
I want to be an academic nurse educator. I will focus on instructing and teaching future nurses. I want to get a position at a university (Billings & Halstead, 2019). A lack of nursing faculty adversely impacts candidates. For example, some qualified candidates cannot attend United States nursing schools because of this challenge. My work will involve speaking at conferences. Moreover, I will be advising students whenever they need my help. Nursing faculty also does scholarly and research work. However, I will continue working in a clinical setting as I educate these individuals. It will help me maintain my technical skills. Even though academic nurse educators typically require a master’s of science in nursing, pursuing a doctorate is an added advantage.
Philosophy Statement
The nurse educator who taught and instructed me inspired me to base nurse education on various central concepts. I made the most of my time with her and promised to apply her concepts when offering nursing education. My philosophy is based on integration, relevance, flexibility, and enthusiasm. The integration will be a significant part of this process (Billings & Halstead, 2019). I will continuously develop various scenarios to inspire the learners to draw on several disciplines to find solutions.
The second concept is relevance. Learners develop more interest in a material when they identify its pertinence (Sundararajan & Adesope, 2020). Moreover, when one realizes that the information the nurse educator is giving them will be applicable in wards, one will have better retention than when one doubts the relevance of the material. Therefore, engagement, interest, and retention are directly associated with pertinence. Bedside teaching produces better results if students learn what they have learned in the classroom. Thus, I will always anchor my lessons to patient cases to improve retention and interest.
The third concept is flexibility. As a nurse educator, my philosophy involves being flexible in instructing and teaching these students. As a competent nurse educator, I must recognize the significance of adapting my teaching to fit a specific audience. Various audiences require different teaching modalities; therefore, flexibility is crucial to guarantee that I will meet the needs of everyone. Students learn differently; thus, the only way to attend to their unique needs involves being ready to utilize different approaches and explanations (Billings & Halstead, 2019). Besides, nursing education entails ensuring that the teaching style aligns with the setting in which one is teaching. For example, when dealing with a small classroom, the technique differs when more learners are involved. Moreover, bedside education and teaching in school require different styles.
The last concept is enthusiasm. I will show my enthusiasm in several ways. For example, I will use eye contact to show them that I enjoy helping them. Moreover, I will use body language and control my tone appropriately. When these learners realize I like what I do, they will be more interested. Showing enthusiasm is a crucial concept because it will make learners have positive attitudes toward the educator (Billings & Halstead, 2019). That will help improve learning.
Philosophy Statement Application to the Tripartite Roles
My philosophy is based on integration, relevance, flexibility, and enthusiasm. The tripartite roles of a nurse educator are scholarship, service, and teaching. Therefore, based on my philosophy, I will always ensure I evaluate students and complete the syllabus when dealing with students. Moreover, providing these future nurses with clinical instructions is crucial (Mintz-Binder & Allen, 2019). Nurse education goes beyond lectures. I will always ensure that I have all the necessary instruments to bring everything they learn together in an organized manner. Moreover, it entails mentoring and advising them. Many nurse students see nurse educators as examples they can imitate; teaching them also involves mentoring. Furthermore, I will always be ready to help whenever they need advice.
Service describes a nurse educator’s potential to provide the best services as their job or as volunteers. Based on my philosophy statement, as a nurse educator, I must rely on evidence to guide me as I offer my services because I value relevance and do my work enthusiastically. Relying on evidence-based care is vital to show those I mentor the right path to follow. Considering that I value relevance, my philosophy is evidence-based. Therefore, I will always provide leadership which will play a vital role in adopting EBP to help enhance service provision.
As a nurse educator, I can support my students through service learning. This learning entails teaching the students the significance of inclusion and appreciation of people from different backgrounds (Mintz-Binder & Allen, 2019). Moreover, they will learn the need to care for others deliberately. One of the elements of my philosophy is enthusiasm. I aspire to wholeheartedly inspire my learners to appreciate diversity which will help reduce unintended damage to minorities. Implementing social learning ideologies benefits learners because it helps activate social appreciation.
I can also efficiently apply my nurse educator philosophy to the tripartite role of scholarship. Since my philosophy is based on integration, relevance, flexibility, and enthusiasm, I must always ensure that I rely on journals and reliable research to educate the future nurse. That will encourage them to rely on EBP in their future practice, which will help them to improve patient outcomes (Mintz-Binder & Allen, 2019). It will allow them to integrate the most relevant research into their services quickly; hence, they can offer informed care.
Relationship of crucial Historical Events
One of the primary historical events that influenced nursing education was the 19th-century Civil War. The need for nurses to help people who sustained injuries during this war resulted in the development of nursing education programs. This event called for more nurse graduates (Dickinson & Mkandawire-Valhmu, 2022). These programs facilitated the process. Nurse educators provided hands-on education to students who observed their work and learned. They utilized this knowledge to help those who sustained injuries from the wars. These educators achieved this goal through ongoing mentorship and instruction.
Significant Nurse Educator Competencies
The first National League for Nursing (NLN) central competency for a nurse educator is to utilize evaluation and assessment strategies. A competent nurse must recognize that they should evaluate and assess students to determine progress and identify areas that require improvement (OJIN, 2021). These processes can happen in every domain of learning. Examples of evaluation materials they can use include short answer responses, mid-term exams, and quizzes. The nurse educator can analyze student learning in clinical, laboratory, and classroom settings. The second NLN vital competency for a nurse educator is to operate as a change agent and leader. They must identify the best ways to develop a desired future for nursing practice and education. They can achieve this goal by utilizing research evidence in practice. Nurse educators can also be agents of change through research which can help produce insight.
The third vital NLN competency for a nurse educator is to facilitate learning. They must identify the most appropriate ways to develop a clinical, lab, or classroom environment that will help students perform better (OJIN, 2021). Educating one in the right environment can significantly facilitate learning. The materials they use for this purpose include administrative guidelines, specifications for clinical practice, assessment tools, and classroom lectures. They must ensure that the environment can support the students to attain their preferred psychomotor, affective, and cognitive results. Students have diverse needs, and the nurse educator must utilize the teaching techniques efficiently to help meet them.
Conclusion
Nurse educators play a significant role in molding future nurses. As an educator, my philosophy is based on four primary concepts, integration, relevance, flexibility, and enthusiasm. I can effectively apply my philosophy statement to the tripartite roles of the nurse educator. These roles include scholarship, service, and teaching. The significant historical event that shaped nursing education was World War II. Initially, people volunteered to work as nurse educators; however, the sector has significantly improved today.
References
Billings, D. M., & Halstead, J. A. (2019). Teaching in Nursing E-Book: A guide for faculty. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Dickinson, T., & Mkandawire-Valhmu, L. (2022). Inclusive Nursing Education. Journal of Nursing Education, 61(8), 427-428.
Loke, A. Y., Guo, C., & Molassiotis, A. (2021). Development of disaster nursing education and training programs in the past 20 years (2000–2019): A systematic review. Nurse education today, 99, 104809.
Mintz-Binder, R., & Allen, P. (2019). Exploring the perspectives of telecommuting nursing faculty. Journal of Nursing Education, 58(3), 152-159.
OJIN. (2021). Global Nursing Education: International Resources Meet the NLN Core Competencies for Nurse Educators. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing.
Sundararajan, N., & Adesope, O. (2020). Keep it coherent: A meta-analysis of the seductive details effect. Educational Psychology Review, 32(3), 707-734.
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