Nurse Educator

Sample Answer

Evolving Roles of Nurse Educators in Diverse Environments

The National League of Nursing (NLN) develops core competencies that nurse educators should possess. As academic nurse educators (ANE), they must navigate the multidimensional roles that include being teachers, leaders, change agents, and curriculum innovators (Yang et al., 2023). The National League of Nursing (NLN) core competencies for nurse educators implore them to function not only as teachers and facilitators of student learning but also make efforts to lead change to enhance overall nursing education and care provision through preparing nursing students to take on their roles in patient care delivery (Alyateem et al., 2022).

As such, the most effective nurse educators go beyond their roles as teachers and assist in developing a well-rounded future generation of nurse practitioners or professionals who advance the profession and overall care environment. Today, different factors; both internal and external, affect nursing education. These include the patient and health population, scope of practice, the evolving medical and health technology, socioeconomic and legal as well as ethical factors. As such, nurse educators must consider these components in their roles and responsibilities (Bastable et al., 2019).

The implication is that the role of nurse educators is evolving in a diverse healthcare environment as illustrated by the different yet critical responsibilities that they play. The purpose of this narrative paper is to describe the nurse educator’s role within the formal academic setting, responsibilities as a teacher in curriculum development and change, inter-professional collaboration, and working within the academic community. The paper describes these roles and responsibilities based on interviewing an academic nurse educator about her job, responsibilities, and values in their current position and role.

B1). Nurse Educator’s Role, Student Population, Courses taught & Learning Environment

The interviewed academic nurse educator is Dr. Evelyn Carter and holds a doctorate (Doctor of Philosophy, Ph.D. in nursing) and CNE credentials. Her role as a nurse educator includes teaching, evaluation, and assessment of students, resource provision, and natural facilitator. She also has roles in developing curriculum and motivating students at her college and even in the practice setting where she practices her nursing.

She is a mentor and preceptor for students doing their Master in Nursing Science (MSN) when on practicum at the site. She also asserts that her role in research is essential as it helps in developing new practice approaches and knowledge for nursing students and fellow faculty members to attain the expected performance in care delivery. Dr. Carter serves a diverse student population that includes adults ranging from 20 years to 30 years based on the program that they are taking. The current enrollment in her class comprises 65% female and 35% male students.

These students spend about six semesters at college to attain an advanced diploma in nursing and can transition to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and even take their MSN at the institution. Upon entry into the program, the student uses four of these semesters on theory and clinical practice hours. The program also has simulation labs, pharmacology, mental health, leadership and management, and maternal and child health. The core learning environment is dynamic since it embraces both adult learning styles and approaches that cut across all areas of the curriculum.

Dr. Carter is a component of the learning environment that focuses on nurturing autonomy, fostering success, and enhancing the quality of life for the learners (Ingraham et al., 2019). She also encourages and motivates her students to seek advanced nursing education by getting more qualifications to meet the rising care demand from diverse patient and health populations. She assists the students in finding relevant courses and specialties to attain further education and serve specific populations through specialization.

B2). Summary of Responsibilities

Academic nurse educators (ANEs) have different roles that include facilitator of learning, communicator, and collaborator, engaging in professional development activities, change leaders, and educational advocates (Bastable et al., 2019). As such, Dr. Carter is a facilitator of learning when she works with colleagues to develop a curriculum that focuses on the four styles of teaching. These include auditory, visual, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. She appreciates students’ prior nursing knowledge and inspires them to actively participate in their learning setting.

Dr. Carter is a respected and successful communicator who effectively shares her opinion, acquired knowledge, skills, and experiences with colleagues, students, and peers. Effective communication skills and attributes are critical in collaboration to attain a common goal. She also collaborates with colleagues in the faculty to solve issues, plan activities, brainstorm, and enhance nursing courses. Dr. Carter is an active participant and contributor to professional development activities aimed at ensuring that she is current and up to date with all required qualifications, certification, and accreditation as an academic nurse educator and also a practicing nurse in the healthcare facility.

For instance, she has gone beyond the minimum requirements of being a nurse educator at her institution by obtaining a terminal degree, a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing, (PhD). She has a certification in her specialty as a family nurse practitioner. She also holds a position on the state nursing board and the Professional Nurses Association. Being a nursing instructor entails compliance with ethical and moral standards and adjusting as the healthcare field advances and changes. Imperatively, Dr. Carter utilizes evidence-based research, student evaluations and assessment as well as National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) pass rates, and nursing program completion rates to make decisions and improve the curriculum as a change leader (NCSBN, 2023).

She believes that nursing students should have the effective competencies to meet the ever-changing needs and patient concerns. As an educational advocate, she appreciates her position and shows an unwavering commitment to ensuring that all students can access her advice and time. She is available through different channels and has flexible official hours for any concerns and questions by students about any aspect of their program. She is a coordinator of further educational opportunities as well as resources for both students and colleagues.

B3). Perception of the Role and Responsibilities of ANE

My initial perception of the roles and responsibilities of academic nurse educators (ANE) was that they help students meet their academic and professional needs in the learning setting. From my perception, nurse educators teach and evaluate students in the classroom as well as in clinical settings as preceptors. They also design and develop curriculum while mentoring, and inspiring students to work collaboratively.

They also hold advanced educational qualifications, certifications, and experience that make them suitable for their roles and responsibilities (Bastable et al., 2019). They also collaborate and coordinate care in multidisciplinary and inter-professional teams. As such, the interview revealed that these roles and responsibilities align with the ANE as demonstrated by Dr. Carter through her responses.

Dr. Carter was categorical that as an ANE, her role extends beyond the classroom and curriculum development as she uses her time to research, write articles for publication, and volunteer time in the community for health-related courses, especially during public health emergencies like disease outbreaks.

She also travels for professional development when attending conferences and seminars on different aspects of nursing and lobbies for resources through her active participation in legislation aimed at changing or transforming the nursing profession. Based on this information, my perception of the roles and responsibilities of ANE changed by expanding to consider all these multidimensional aspects of nursing education and even practice for these educators.

C1). Roles and Responsibilities in ensuring safe, quality patient care in academic and practice settings

The roles and responsibilities of an academic nurse educator (ANE) in ascertaining safe, quality patient care in academic and practice settings include leading the implementation of evidence-based practice, and providing support for and improving the nursing workforce through clinical expertise based on enthusiastic instructing and guidance of students. They are also responsible for designing, developing, and implementing curricula, programs, and syllabuses for the nursing programs that enhance safe and quality care delivery for patients and nurses (Alyateem et al., 2022).

In this regard, Dr. Carter collaborates with fellow faculty members to develop and implement nursing programs and ensure that the curriculum aligns with the accreditation requirements. As an efficient and well-versed floor nurse, is participate in regular change and innovation with the faculty members (Ingraham et al., 2019). Dr. Carter utilizes best practice approaches founded on research in teaching, instructing, and inspiring safe and quality care for her students in both learning and clinical practice environments. She ensures that they integrate best practices when offering patient care in clinical practice to attain safety and quality outcomes.

C2). Functioning within the Parent Institution (outside the nursing department)

In their parent institution, the ANE functions as a teacher and researcher and guides students in different areas of the program where she has limited expertise like leadership and management. Service and research become core aspects of the responsibilities and functioning of ANEs as they gain more experience and become grounded in their learning settings and interactions with students. Within the parent institution, ANE writes grant proposals, participates in a nursing professional association, continues clinical skills acquisition, and attends conferences where they can make presentations (Alyateem et al., 2022).

The ANEs may also build associations within the educational facility and clinical settings. They can also collaborate with healthcare teams and be change leaders based on their areas of interest. In her case, Dr. Carter leads faculty instruction as the head of the department and oversees students during their practicums in health organizations. She also teaches online, in classrooms, and in clinical settings besides evaluating the learners through their courses. She specializes in handling advanced classes and learners, especially those in continuing education while they practice.

As such, her roles and responsibilities are diverse; from being an active floor nurse manager to a nurse advocate and presenter at conferences and doing research that has enabled her to publish peer-reviewed articles in nursing journals. She also facilitates teamwork with colleagues within the faculty.

C3). External Stakeholders

External stakeholders are interested in the overall success of a nursing school and the programs that it offers. The ANE develop interactions and association between students and nurse preceptor as well as practicum sites in attaining the expected outcomes for their learners. Through this cooperation, students, get a hands-on and clinical experience required beyond classroom work. The community and health populations as well as patients are also critical stakeholders for the nurse educator as they help the student nurse understand different aspects of care delivery. The ANE supports nursing students as they care for patients in clinical settings (Bastable et al., 2019). Nursing students and the ANE role model quality care for patients through critical thinking, compassionate care, sharing health and medical knowledge, and communication attributes.

Dr. Carter works well with nurses, nurse leaders and managers, and institutions who accept to precept their nursing students. She works closely with the community to provide opportunities for the new graduate nurse positions so that they get to practice. She works hard to develop interactions between nurses and students aimed at building trust and recommendations for possible employment. She takes time to interact with patients under her nursing students and collects feedback that helps modify or adjust the program’s requirements to meet students’ and patient care needs.

i). Communication Strategies

Facilitating communication with external stakeholders requires ANEs to develop and apply appropriate strategies that enable them to gain the trust and confidence of these entities. Imperatively, communication strategies for the ANEs include empathy and genuine interest developed through active listening and involvement of all stakeholders. ANEs can use empathy as a strategy to communicate with students during their practicums while active listening is essential when asking questions and making connections to the overall implementation of their learning (Pickles et al., 2019).

Using these strategies, she engages external stakeholders by speaking at assemblies and during face-to-face interactions with students to explain the expectations and make necessary connections. She engages nurses in different healthcare facilities where she precepts students. Throughout these engagements, active listening and empathy are critical communication strategies.

C4). Inter-professional Collaboration

Academic nurse educators are a critical component of inter-professional collaboration efforts. As such, the interviewed ANE facilitates the development through the pursuit of opportunities, implementation of an approach that focuses on the core competencies, and development of interpersonal collaborations in the nursing program (Yang et al., 2023). She also collaborates and reinforces the connections between research, education, and practice and encourages students to use teamwork as well as developing a curriculum that is patient-centered among the inter-professional providers.

The ANE adheres to the four core competencies that include values and ethics, roles and responsibilities, inter-professional communication, and team and teamwork (Alyateem et al., 2022). These competencies are critical in operating in an environment of mutual respect and based on common values as well as deploying expertise in one’s roles to attain better outcomes. Effective communication is also critical in uniting different stakeholders; from the healthcare team to students, families, and patients. The delivery of patient-centered care in a timely, effective, and efficient way is also critical in inter-professional collaboration.

D). Summary of Challenge Identified during the Interview

Academic nurse educators can encounter a host of challenges; from political to cultural and economic as well as educational that can impact their role in institutional settings. In this case, the identified challenge during the interview was an educational one; online teaching. Students highlight issues like connectivity to the Internet and other technical factors as well as feeling detached from a classroom environment (Ingraham et al., 2019).

These challenges can be complex for the ANE to overcome. Imperatively, as technology advances, ANEs should develop innovative curricula to ensure that students are interested and maintain high levels of academic integrity through online teaching platforms. The ANE must be creative and innovative while integrating best practices to attain the success of such classes.

D1. Impact of Identified Challenge

The educational challenge affects the role of ANE in maintaining academic standards and effective evaluation as well as assessment of the students. Again, it also affects their ability to develop a creative and innovative curriculum that meets students’ needs and concerns. The limited time for face-to-face interactions may have negative effects on the overall interactions and relationships among students and instructors (Bastable et al., 2019).

The implication is that the ANE may need to spend more time to improve the course, develop new learning approaches, and attain better training on the use of technological aspects to effectively deliver content to the students. While the online program has more demand for advanced nursing students, those in entry-level nursing programs require traditional classroom lessons.

D2). Scholarly Sources

Peer-reviewed sources demonstrate that online nursing programs offer immense benefits to nursing students, especially those in advanced nursing courses because of their increased flexibility. However, they also present critical yet practical challenges that must be addressed, as captured in the interview. Core among these challenges are effective interactions and development of relationships, evaluation, and assessment of students, and the need for academic integrity and honesty among the students enrolled through the programs.

Existing scholarly sources point to the challenges associated with e-learning in nursing for students and even facilitators. In their article, Molato et al. (2022) highlight the need to address these challenges. Similarly, Lynch et al. (2022) address the need for academic integrity in online undergraduate nursing programs to enhance the overall viability of the approach. Mojarad et al. (2023) support this perspective by advancing that the use of online learning has facilitators and challenges that must be explored to ensure that such strategies meet the intended learning and program outcomes for nursing students.

D3). Strategies to Overcome Barriers and Leverage Opportunities

Academic nurse educators can overcome these barriers and leverage opportunities offered through online programs when they implement innovative approaches to student interactions. These programs offer significant opportunities for students and should be encouraged by addressing the possible barriers. For instance, integrating artificial intelligence can curb malpractices while having effective programming and schedule can ensure that students log in and do their assignments. Discussion boards and Zoom can also be leveraged to attain a classroom setting for students to improve their overall participation and interactions (Pickles et al., 2019). Dedicating more time and being flexible for these students through responding to emails and even calls where and when necessary are critical approaches that can help address the identified barriers.

E. Reflective analysis based on development plan to be socialized to the role of ANE

E1. Teaching, Scholarship, and Service in Transition to the ANE Role

As illustrated through the interview, ANE needs to incorporate different aspects aimed at improving their roles and attaining better delivery for students. Imperatively, I will integrate expert teaching skills to transition to the role of ANE through sharing personal experiences and knowledge, deploying evidence-based research on curriculum development, and being open to new approaches in teaching. I will also rely on my extensive scholarship through research findings and attained qualifications to get used to the role of ANE (Ingraham et al., 2019).

I will integrate my beliefs, perspectives, and training into the course of education. I will also participate in and attend any development meetings and sessions by the faculty and its head to familiarize myself with the role and enhance my teaching abilities. I will integrate scholarship through continuing learning, research, and writing scholarly works for publication. I will also be a peer reviewer and lead research projects while also making presentations during conferences.

Further, I will incorporate services by working with professional nursing organizations and joining relevant committees within the academic setting and in the community to improve nursing education and practice. These entities will be instrumental in making and leading changes to ensure the best nursing practice teaching in nursing schools.

E2). Adhering to ethics, values & cultural norms of nursing education

Ethics, values, and norms are critical for nurse educators as they model better professional conduct and behaviors based on the code of ethics developed by the American Nurses Association and other professional entities (Hoskins et al., 2019). Effectively, I will comply with the ethical norms and values of nursing education during the transition to the ANE role by maintaining academic integrity and honesty, treating students without any bias or favoritism, and teaching issues as well as staying consistent with the course requirements.

I give student honest feedback and grade their work based on their performance, not biases. I will also treat them impartially and respectfully in all interactions, and develop a culture of embracing diversity, especially for those who may feel discriminated against like male students who are the minority in the class. I will also prepare students to deal with ethical dilemmas that may emerge in their practice settings or during their interactions during the course. I will keep the same syllabus, course outcomes, and assignment expectations during the class (Ingraham et al., 2019).

Any changes will require effective communication with the students so that they prepare and respond positively to the new approaches, where and when necessary. I will encourage the students to have a holistic approach to caring and teach them the core values of caring, integrity, and diversity as well as ensuring excellent care for their patients. I will implore them to focus on evidence-based practice and integration of value-based care models as the best outcomes of their nursing education program.

I will focus on how they can make ethical decisions and promote nursing education values like humility, respect, dignity, and truthfulness in clinical settings. I will ensure that the delivery of course content meets the diverse learning needs of the different students by employing the right learning styles (Hoskins et al., 2019). I will encourage effective and purposeful yet respectful interactions among all the students, especially in class and during their practicums.

E3). Type of academic environment to facilitate transition to the ANE role

The transition to the ANE role would be smooth based on the type of academic environment that I will select and practice. Being an instructor in the current college will facilitate the transition to the ANE role. I would prefer to continue with my current role as a critical care nurse while improving my competencies to gain advanced education qualifications and be a nurse educator. I want to improve my overall competencies in my current practice setting, including taking on more roles, to prepare for the transition. The current environment ensures that I can integrate different approaches to care and seamlessly work with the rest of the team to attain expected outcomes.

Conclusion

Academic nurse educators (ANEs) play a critical role in nurturing the next generation of nurses who can work in diverse care settings to deliver quality patient care. As illustrated through the interview with the ANE, nurse educators work collaboratively to develop an effective curriculum for students and support them to attain the expected course outcomes based on objectives. The interview revealed diverse issues and challenges that can impact ANE roles and their responses.

The interview provided a reflective moment for me to understand the different aspects of ANEs in curriculum development and overall learning and content delivery for effective nursing education. ANEs have multidimensional roles and responsibilities that place them at the center of nurses’ professional development and academic progression to improve nursing practice and patient care delivery.

References

• Alyateem, S., & Houriah, A. (2022). Nursing Education Leader’s Competencies A Narrative Review. Eastern Journal of Healthcare, 2(1), 25-28. DOI https //doi.org/10.31557/ejhc.2022.2.1.25-28
• Bastable, S. B. & Gonzalez, K. M. (2019). Overview of education in health care. In S. Bastable (Ed.), Nurse as educator (5th ed., pp. 10-15) (Vitalsource learning resource). https //wgu.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781284155464/cfi/6/10!/4@0.00 0
• Hoskins, K., Grady, C., & Ulrich, C. M. (2019). Ethics education in nursing Instruction for future generations of nurses. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 23(1), 4. https //doi- org.wgu.idm.oclc.org/10.3912/OJIN.Vol23No01Man0
• Ingraham, K. C., Davidson, S. J., & Yonge, O. (2019). Student-faculty relationships and its impact on academic outcomes. Nurse Education Today, 71, 17–21. https //doi- org.wgu.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2018.08.021
• Lynch, J., Glew, P., Salamonson, Y., & Ramjan, L. M. (2022). “Integrity is integrity. It doesn’t matter the context” A qualitative exploratory study of academic integrity in an undergraduate nursing program. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 17(4), 465-470. https //doi.org/10.1016/j.teln.2022.06.013
• National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) (2023). National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). https //www.ncsbn.org/nclex.page
• Mojarad, F. A., Hesamzadeh, A., & Yaghoubi, T. (2023). Exploring challenges and facilitators to E-learning based Education of nursing students during Covid-19 pandemic a qualitative study. BMC nursing, 22(1), 278. DOI https //doi.org/10.1186/s12912-023-01430-6
• Molato, B. J., & Sehularo, L. A. (2022). Recommendations for online learning challenges in nursing education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Curationis, 45(1), 2360. DOI 10.4102/curationis.v45i1.2360
• Pickles, D., Lacey, S. D., & King, L. (2019). Conflict between nursing student’s personal beliefs and professional nursing values. Nursing ethics, 26(4), 1087-1100. DOI 10.1177/0969733017738132.
• Yang, Q., Zheng, Z., Pang, S., Wu, Y., Liu, J., Zhang, J., & Xie, L. (2023). Clinical nurse adherence to professional ethics A grounded theory. Nursing ethics, 30(2), 197-209. DOI 10.1177/09697330221130594.