CHAPTER 7

Reflections of a Clinical Educator in a Baccalaureate Nursing Program

Lorena Jung

I earned a bachelor’s of science in nursing from the University of Virginia and obtained my first job working as a night shift hospice care nurse at a local community hospital. This felt like a good match for my first job because I was not seeking a fast-paced environment to start out in as a novice nurse. In this first job I appreciated the opportunity to strengthen clinical skills over time as well as observe the deeply caring, compassionate, and holistic approach to the care of terminally ill patients. Effective communication, teamwork, and patient/family collaboration were also well practiced on this unit. All of these skills are taught during school but to have actually witnessed them in the workplace was a good learning experience for a new nurse.

I later worked at the bedside on units such as oncology and medical–surgical nursing. I eventually earned a master’s degree and then worked in a community health/quality improvement position at an international health clinic in Seattle, Washington. Working with vulnerable, international patient populations continues to be a passion of mine. Later, when I was working on an oncology research unit at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) patient care center, I was invited to become a nurse educator. I was attending school part time to earn my nursing doctoral degree and had reduced my workload at NIH. The school of nursing (SON) contacted me midsemester and asked if I might be available to take over a community health clinical group that had been “abandoned” by one of their clinical instructors. After the first few weeks into the semester, the instructor simply vanished, never to be heard from by her students or the SON again. The clinical coordinator was seeking a replacement and had reached out to several graduate students with community health experience. Despite a full schedule, the new role sparked my interest and I agreed to take on my first clinical instructor position.

DECISION TO BECOME A NURSE EDUCATOR

One of the primary reasons for me to become a nurse educator was to share nursing knowledge with new nurses. I also wanted to guide students toward success. I remember being an average student throughout my whole life and never dreamed that someday I would be holding a nursing doctoral degree. I remember specific incidents from elementary school through college where teachers spoke negative or positive words that left lifelong impressions.

Upon entering graduate school, I suddenly decided I did not want to continue on as a mediocre student and instead, I wanted to put forth my best efforts academically. I worked diligently on the first nursing course paper that was due. The day our papers were returned, I remember the professor saying, “Lorena, I was surprised, you write well!” She will probably never know that I too was surprised. I felt like a hidden talent had been revealed; I felt motivated to keep improving my writing skills. This professor’s words stuck with me throughout my graduate studies. If she had not mentioned anything on that day, I would probably have never developed a love for writing or a desire to write a lengthy dissertation.

Words can either bring harm or encouragement at any stage of education. I knew I would really like to teach in a nursing program when I realized how simple encouragement could motivate a student. Words do not cost anything, and they make an immense impact on a student’s future. Now, as an educator, I find there seems to be at least one or two students each semester who just need to hear positive affirmation to help keep them going. I hope that my words can influence them in the same way my own professor’s words strengthened me years ago.

One of the major benefits that I look forward to as a nurse educator is the sharing of knowledge and exchange of creative ideas. I do not have an authoritarian style of teaching. I believe that I have just as much to learn from students as they do from me. Some of my students have more experience than I do; I welcome their sharing of experiences since we all learn from them. Many meaningful teaching or learning experiences have occurred through this collaborative approach.

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