CHAPTER 8

Reflections of a Clinical Educator in an Associate Degree Nursing Program

Felicia Michelle Glasgow

These influential words guide not only my thoughts and behaviors as a nurse in general, but also my instructional practices as a nurse educator. This quote has been a beacon of light illuminating my own educational path for the past 23 years. As an expert clinician, this quote became a standard rule by which I measured my knowledge base, professional conduct, and manner in which I delivered care to patients and families. Over the years, this inspiring quote became an instrument in my character development toolkit and has helped me evolve into the nursing professional—specifically, the nurse educator—I am today. For me, becoming a nurse educator was about not only teaching my students how to think at a comprehensive level, but also teaching them how to practice by principles that would allow them to construct a robust foundation upon which they could build their own professional character.

At the age of four, not knowing why I said it, or even where the thought came from, I remember looking up at my mother and saying, “I am going to be a nurse when I grow up. I want to help people help themselves.” With a warm spirit and encouraging smile, my mother looked down into my wide brown eyes and said, “Baby, you can be whoever you want to be.” That very moment was the first of many educational lessons to come. Today, over four decades later, I stand in my truth of becoming a nurse; one who helps other people to help themselves.

After completing a short period in the United States military, I decided to fulfill my dream of becoming a nurse. I entered the nursing profession as a licensed vocational nurse (LVN) and worked in long-term health care for 4 years. I provided direct hands-on task-oriented care to the geriatric patient population and their family members, and occasionally functioned in the role of a unit charge nurse for unlicensed health care staff. I took great pride in my role as a LVN and served my patients, their families, and my staff with a sense of humility.

Though being a LVN who took care of others gave me a sense of self-effacement, it did not quench my eagerness to strive for a more integral role in the nursing profession. I wanted to do more in nursing. I knew within myself that there was more to me—that there were more knowledge and skills for me to learn, and work for me to do at an advanced level. So, in search of personal gratification and professional growth, I made the decision to leave the long-term care setting to seek employment in an acute care setting. I quickly learned that opportunities were limited in acute care for nurses in the LVN role. I applied for several nursing positions in various acute care facilities only to be met with two very common answers, “We are not hiring LVNs at this time, maybe check back at a later date” or “We are looking to hire RNs at this time.”

Frustrated, and unwilling to take no for an answer, I returned to college and earned an associate of applied science nursing degree. I was hired for a medical–surgical unit and mother–baby postpartum unit at one of the same hospitals that had earlier rejected me. I soon recognized that as a RN, my nursing experiences changed from performing simple bedside tasks and being an occasional shift leader to more comprehensive responsibilities. As I began to witness the level of influence my professional nurse teaching had on positive changes occurring in the lives of my patients, their families, and my professional work environment, I knew I wanted to be an educator.

I could see that my approach to sharing health information with others empowered them to improve their own circumstances. Patients were changing their lifestyle behaviors, which contributed to quicker wound healing, decreased hypertension numbers, and blood sugar levels declining to acceptable ranges. I witnessed new parents display more confidence and less fear when taking their newborns home. My nursing peers and other colleagues shared how my unit in-services helped to increase their professional knowledge base and improve their clinical practice skills. These were defining events that helped to inspire me to further my education and become a full-time nurse educator.

I wanted to become a trailblazer in nursing, empowering others through knowledge and experiences so that they could develop wisdom and understanding about their health and make life-altering changes to their health status. So back to school! Four years after earning my associate degree in nursing, I earned a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree and transitioned from working in the acute hospital care setting to working as a community-based nurse educator for a local university area health education center (AHEC). In this role, I was able to help facilitate professional nursing educational programs, multidisciplinary health care seminars, and preventive community health fairs. For 5 years, I traveled through seven underserved counties empowering individuals who had little to no health knowledge, health insurance, or immediate access to health care services. Once again, I witnessed how education helped people make decisions that led to life-altering changes in their circumstances. The experience fueled my motivation to learn more and to teach more. Two years after earning my BSN, I returned to the same university and earned a master of nursing science (MNSc) degree.

NURSE EDUCATOR AS PRECEPTOR

After completing my master’s degree, I continued to work as a community-based nurse educator and also as a nurse preceptor for nursing students who were seeking to earn their BSN from the same university in which I had earned my degrees. As a nurse preceptor, I was able to employ my years of diverse nursing clinical experiences, knowledge, and practice skills and to guide students through both simple and complex learning opportunities. Though the experience was enjoyable, I quickly realized that precepting students was not easy.

During each of my preceptor rotations I generally worked with two or three students at the same time. I learned that students in the clinical setting brought with them their own learning styles, educational beliefs and values, communication methods, and one common barrier to learning how to interact with patients: fear. Though most of my students were excited about their first clinical rotation, they were hesitant to engage with patients. As an experienced nurse working with other experienced nurses, I had not been aware of the level of fear that students brought with them to the clinical setting. I did not think about their fears or individual needs, but just what I needed to teach them about implementing safe and competent nursing skills.

This all changed 3 days into my role as a preceptor when one of my students, whom I will refer to as Lauren, asked a very simple, yet matter-of-fact question. Standing in front of me with her hands extended forward and shaking, Lauren asked, “Have you noticed my shaking hands today?” Somewhat caught off guard by her question, I stood staring at Lauren, trying to process her question. So many thoughts were running through my mind. I had no idea why she had asked me such a question. I responded honestly, saying “I am sorry, no I had not noticed.” Lauren then explained that over the course of the past 3 clinical days she had experienced a level of fear when caring for her patients, despite knowing she was doing so under my supervision. She also explained that because of the way she was feeling, she did not think she was performing at her best.

As an experienced nurse in a preceptor role, I felt terrible that I had not detected Lauren’s level of fear. I started to question my ability to be an effective clinical preceptor and whether or not my lack of experience in working with students had contributed to her fear. This incident was an indicator to me that I needed to pause and have a very open discussion with all of my students about how they were feeling in the clinical environment. I also needed to learn about how they thought I was performing as their preceptor. Each student was able to provide me with valuable insight into how they were feeling. Each student stated that they felt their fear negatively influenced their performances. They also shared that they knew I was super focused on providing them great clinical experiences, but I did not seem to be aware of the “I am afraid or anxious” cues they were displaying. I learned a crucial lesson—that awareness is an essential component to effectively teaching others.

As an experienced clinician, I had forgotten about how intimidating a patient care environment could be for the first time. But as a new preceptor myself, responsible for the learning experiences and outcomes of students, I could certainly understand my students’ position because this unfamiliar territory also caused me some degree of fear. I found out in 3 short clinical days that I had just as much to learn from my students as they had to learn from me, and that awareness can bring about positive changes in students’ clinical experiences. From that point forward, I used this lesson to shape my teaching approach. At the start of each new rotation I would ask students to describe their feelings about the clinical environment and whether they were experiencing some level of fear. I am very grateful that on that third day of clinical Lauren challenged me to become a better educator.

My role as a preceptor surpassed my wildest dream. I loved it! I loved witnessing each time one of my preceptees experienced an “a-ha” learning moment, or when one would come running from a patient’s bedside exclaiming, “I did it! I can’t believe I did it!” The enthusiasm my students exhibited as they grew into their own professional identity fed my desire to teach. My sense of purpose to become a nurse educator became clearer to me with each student I precepted. I knew without a doubt my purpose in the field of nursing was to help shape the minds and professional behaviors of the next generation of nurses through the power of education. I knew I could help teach students entering the nursing profession, or those advancing in the nursing profession, to think intensively and critically, and to develop the professional character needed to help change lives. Knowing that I had finally identified that integral part of the nursing profession that I had yearned for so many years was a priceless feeling.

NURSE EDUCATOR IN A SCHOOL OF NURSING

Excited and afraid at the same time, I decided I wanted to teach students in a structured nursing program, who in return would go forth and teach on a global level. In my mind, this would be my greatest contribution to the nursing profession. Therefore, I applied for a full-time faculty position at a local community college. I started out as both a classroom and clinical educator. Though being full of enthusiasm and eager to step into my new role, I began to experience some anxiety, fear, and doubt. I was concerned that despite my years of professional nursing education and direct experiences with students as a nurse preceptor, I would not be able to live up to the expectations of my nursing leaders, but more importantly, my students.

The night prior to my first day of teaching, I paced the floor, worrying. At times, I would think that taking on this new role was a big mistake and that I was better at teaching patients and staff in the clinical arena. I would then counteract those thoughts by thinking how would I know whether I was good at instructing students in a nursing program if I never tried? Other worries crept in: “What if I pronounce my words incorrectly?” “What if students ask me questions I can’t answer?” “As an African American woman, am I culturally diverse enough to teach a multicultural body of students?” “How will students perceive my teaching methods?”

All of these questions intensified my stress level. However, I was able to reflect, and draw a level of confidence from my teaching experiences leading up to this position. By changing the way I was thinking, I was able to change the way I was feeling. I was ready to jump into my new nurse educator (faculty) role.

As a new full-time nurse educator, I quickly learned that nurse educators wore multiple hats and performed many duties throughout the course of a day. In addition to lecture in the classroom, teaching basic foundational nursing skills in the lab, and facilitating students’ hands-on and observational clinical experiences in hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities, I assisted with administrative duties, such as program evaluations, committee participation, faculty advisement, and curriculum revisions.

In my initial role as a classroom educator, I taught several first-level courses, including basic nursing concepts, health assessment, basic nursing skills, and nursing foundations. Each course enrolled approximately 40 to 50 new students per semester. These courses had a concurrent simulation nursing skills lab component in which I worked 2 to 3 days out of the week with other faculty to teach students skills, such as physical assessment, medication administration, dressing changes, sterile techniques, and patient charting. Once students demonstrated mastery of the skills, they moved into real-life clinical settings, where they performed nursing tasks under the direct supervision of nursing faculty, learning to translate nursing theory into clinical practice as they worked with patients. The average student to faculty ratio in the clinical rotation was 10:1.

Classroom Teaching

On my first day as a classroom educator, I arrived at the nursing building and literally leaped out of my car in anticipation of starting my day and my new career path. As I entered the halls of the nursing department, I noticed faculty, staff, and some students scurrying around trying to prepare for an expected busy day. I was greeted with smiles and welcomes from colleagues, and nervous stares and fidgety hands from students. I thought about how I was feeling just the night before, and quickly concluded that the students were just as anxious and afraid of the unknown as I was.

I made my way to my office and after an hour of organizing my office space, I entered the classroom to meet the new cohort of nursing students I would be teaching for the semester. Once again, those previous intruding questions began to enter my mind. As I anxiously entered the classroom, students were engaged in multiple sidebar conversations. I quickly gained control of the learning environment, introduced myself, called the roll, and began to present the course information and class expectations. After all the beginning course formalities were completed, I proceeded with my first official lecture. My voice quivered, my knees shook, and I could literally feel beads of sweat trail down my spine. I thought to myself, “Am I going to make it through this?” Not knowing if I would, I paused in the middle of my lecture and asked my students “Is there anyone else in the classroom as nervous as I am?” In unison, students’ hands went up all over the classroom, and in that very moment, I found strength in realizing I was not alone. I smiled at my students, realigned my thoughts, and completed my lecture.

After class was over, I stayed to answer questions for those students who lingered. I remember one student in particular; I’ll call her Sun, because she was the brightest part of my first day. She was the last student to leave the class. Slowly, and appearing unsure of herself, she approached me and shared how much she enjoyed my lecture and teaching methods and the reasons she wanted to become a nurse. In all that she shared, her most profound statement was: “I want to learn everything I can about nursing so I can take care of people the right way, and help them to help themselves.” I suddenly remembered when I was 4 years old and made the same declaration to my mother. I then looked Sun in her eyes, and with the same warm smile and encouraging spirit my mother had validated my dream so many years before, I told Sun, “You can be whoever you want to be.” In that moment, I recognized that I had been presented with a precious opportunity and a gift that I would not take for granted. This was exactly the positive experience I needed on my first day as I transitioned into the full-time role of a novice nurse educator teaching students in an academic nursing program.

Although I wish all of my students were as willing to learn as Sun, many were not. Students brought to the learning environment their own values and beliefs about education. Not all of my students valued the experiences that came with education. One example in particular was a student I will call “Lemon” because this student often displayed a negative and “sour” attitude toward learning and faculty. In the afternoon of my first day of teaching, I met Lemon in the nursing skills lab. Throughout the lab practice period, this student had very little positive input to contribute to the learning experience. Lemon challenged my teaching endeavors and occasionally would disrupt the learning environment with unwelcomed humor or irrelevant statements. On this day, I remember Lemon entered the skills lab armed with a negative attitude. Anticipating unwanted disruption to the learning process of other students, I knew that I had to think quickly about how to change the outcome of what I was expecting. I thought that if I allowed Lemon’s negative behavior to continue, learning for everyone, especially Lemon, would be affected. For a brief moment, I did not know what to do. I found myself in new territory in an unfamiliar situation. I had never been the primary educator for nursing students before, and had certainly never had to address a student’s uncivil behavior. I started to wonder whether I had made the right decision to move into teaching instead of staying in my familiar clinical territory. After much contemplation, I spoke with Lemon about my observation of her behavior. I would like to say that Lemon’s behavior changed instantaneously, but the truth is, it did not. It took time to simply scratch the surface of this student’s behavior. Each time I taught the nursing skills lab and witnessed her behavior, I felt like a failure as a teacher. I was worried that I had stumbled upon a person whom I would not be able to help through education.

Clinical Teaching

My first clinical day experience was a bit more intense. Yes, I was very excited to take students into the clinical setting. As an experienced clinician and former preceptor for student nurses, the clinical setting was familiar territory for me. However, I had grown accustomed to only having to take the responsibility for two or three students at one time, not 10. Just as I had done on my first day in the classroom, I started to struggle within myself about my ability to function effectively in the role of a clinical educator.

At 6:00 a.m., I arrived at my assigned clinical site, a long-term care facility, greeted the nursing staff, and made student assignments. My confidence level was high; I was organized and armed with a well thought-out agenda for the day. I was ready for my students to come through the door in their pristine nursing uniforms with their skills lab kit in hand, ready to demonstrate safe patient-care nursing skills, and they did. Well, some of them did. As my students started to trickle in at 6:30 a.m., I could feel my calmness disappearing because of the number of students I had to guide alone. I wish I could say that the feeling of insecurity went away quickly, but it did not. However, I was able to manage without students recognizing just how nervous I really was.

After redirecting my thoughts toward my students and not my insecurities, I facilitated a morning briefing with my students. I provided students with a copy of the daily plan, reiterated clinical expectations, shared a brief nurse report, made patient assignments, and most importantly asked students if they had any fears about the day. Yes, I never forgot the lesson Lauren had taught me. With the formalities of the morning addressed, my students headed out to greet their patients and perform basic clinical nursing skills under my direct supervision. To my surprise, once the students met their assigned patients, most of them appeared to be relaxed and confident. Some were able to demonstrate, with accuracy, implementation of their basic nursing skills, such as bed baths, physical assessments, medication administrations, oral and tube feeding, wound care dressing changes, patient teaching, and chart documentation.

I must admit that it was very challenging to keep eyes on all 10 students at the same time and to be with each one of them at the same time. Identifying this challenge early on in the 8-hour shift, I asked the nursing staff at the facility to share in the outcome of my students’ learning experiences by helping me to oversee them while they were in the facility. I found that this partnership worked well because it allowed the staff to indirectly contribute to the students’ learning process, which several of the nurses had wanted to do.

A second challenge I faced on the first clinical day was learning how to work with multiple students at their different individual levels of comfort and confidence. I had some students that were assertive and excited and ready to tackle any skill opportunity that came their way. Then, I had those that I had to spend extra time with to encourage and reassure that they could perform the task before them. Again, this was unfamiliar territory for me at the student level but I reflected back on my clinician experiences of teaching patients and their families and used those strategies to guide my students. To my surprise, it worked. Though not all of my students were able to show strong confidence in their performance abilities on the first day of clinical, more than half of them were. This made me very proud as a new clinical nurse educator.

In essence, my first clinical day consisted of literally 8 hours of speed walking up and down unit hallways and in and out of patients’ rooms coordinating, demonstrating, facilitating, and supervising the clinical learning opportunities of all 10 of my students. At times, I also found myself in the roles of a motivational coach and a comforter for teary-eyed students. At the end of a long first clinical day, I found myself to be mentally and physically exhausted, but at the same time overwhelmingly proud of the clinical experiences I had provided for my students. Prior to leaving the facility, my students expressed how they were satisfied with their clinical experiences and performances for the day. They shared how they took pride in knowing that their patients had been fed and were clean and dry. They also were able to witness their patients exchanging smiles while sitting up in their wheelchairs chatting with other patients, or simply lying in bed while visiting with family members. Nursing staff also gave kudos to how well the day had gone and how my students had performed such great patient care.

At the end of my first day, I experienced a plethora of emotions. Fear crept in when I thought about my lack of experience with teaching students but faded as I realized that even as a novice clinical nurse educator, I was able to draw from my past experiences to problem solve. All of my clinical experiences were valuable and foundational to my success as a novice nurse educator. I was prepared to function in the role, whether in the classroom, lab, or clinical setting. I had survived my first day of teaching students!

RESOURCES NEEDED

As I continued my journey of transitioning from a clinician into a nurse educator role, I realized that having the proper resources, support, and guidance in the learning environment was essential to my ability to teach students effectively and students’ ability to be academically successful. It was important to me that I had the support of my nursing director, semester coordinator, and colleagues. This played a significant role in my transition to becoming a nurse educator. My nursing director ensured access for me to continuing education training specific to nurse educators, and authorized me time to actively participate in those programs. My semester coordinator provided me guidance and mentorship through the process of informal transmission of wisdom, relevant knowledge, and shared teaching experiences. Through this relationship, I learned about effective and ineffective teaching strategies. The support and encouragement of my colleagues also helped build my confidence. Experiencing the spirit of a team helped me to maintain a positive outlook on my new role and encouraged me to keep coming back every day. To date, I still find myself collaborating with these three groups of people to seek their advice, leadership, and wisdom. However, I tend to communicate and seek out most of my support needs from my mentor.

From my perspective, mentorship is essential to the new nurse educator. The mentorship support I received initially empowered me with information, opportunities, and experiences as a nurse educator. These elements developed and enhanced my teaching. I gained useful insight into the role of a nurse educator and learned specific skills and knowledge relevant to an effective teaching and learning environment. Another important aspect I gathered from my mentorship experience was knowledge about the organization’s culture and unspoken rules, which became critical to my own success as a nurse educator. My mentor provided critical feedback in key areas such as communication, interpersonal relationships, teaching abilities, change management, and leadership skills, and related each one to my nurse educator role. With each year of teaching, I have found that the wisdom and experiences shared with me at the beginning of my nurse educator journey has been foundational to the nurse educator I am today. Although I may no longer require my mentor to be on speed dial, I still have the need to call her occasionally when unfamiliar circumstances in the teaching environment surface or when personal or professional decisions arise. I believe that despite one’s years of teaching experiences, the desire and sense of need for mentorship never disappear.

Having the support of my nurse administrator, mentor, and colleagues was important to my success as a nurse educator, but I also needed continuing professional development in order to keep abreast of the frequent theoretical and technical changes that occur in nursing. As a clinician I realized that working in the acute care setting allowed me to work closely with multidisciplinary health care teams, which made me more aware of changes occurring in patient care. However, as a nurse educator, I primarily focused on my one or two assigned courses and became less aware of changes occurring in different aspects of nursing. Having access and time to attend continuing professional development programs remain essential in my educator role.

Continuing professional development has also helped me learn how to design curricula, develop nursing courses, teach effectively, evaluate learning, and document educational outcomes. In addition, professional development has prepared me to advise students, engage in scholarly work, participate in professional associations, present at nursing conferences, and write grant proposals. In essence, I have been taught the full scope of the educator role through these continuing education opportunities.

THE NURSE EDUCATOR ROLE

One thing I love about my role as a nurse educator is that every day is a new adventure. No two days are the same, even when I try to establish a routine. A typical day for me consists of preparing students’ learning activities, facilitating students’ classroom and clinical learning experiences, counseling and advising students, chairing committee meetings, attending leadership meetings, acknowledging colleagues, and juggling administrative duties. For example, prior to reaching my office from the parking lot, I generally run into one or two students requesting to see me before class starts at 9 o’clock. Most often I agree to see each student right away, which means I have to rush into my office, turn on my computer, and usher them in. Depending on the needs of the student, I may conduct a quick exam review, demonstrate how to work a math problem, reiterate a previously lectured concept, complete and/or sign a form or two, or simply become a pair of listening ears resulting in some form of counseling or advising.

By now, a minimum of 15 or 20 minutes of my 1-hour class prep time has gone by and I am scrambling to listen to phone messages left from the evening before and check my work e-mails to see if any impromptu meeting has been scheduled for the day or if there are urgent messages needing to be addressed right away. During this time I am also acknowledging greetings, questions, or concerns from my colleagues as they individually pass my office door, or stop and trickle in for small talk.

With about 15 minutes before it is time for my class to start, I hurriedly gather my teaching supplies and race from the second floor to the first floor where students noisily await my arrival to the classroom. I then prepare students for the learning process by sharing with them the learning objectives, activities, and expected outcomes for the day. After an hour and a half of facilitating students’ learning experiences, I stay after class an extra 10 to 15 minutes to address any questions students may have. Once I have completed my classroom or lab time with students for the day, I return to my office for a short break and then scurry to the first of at least two to three scheduled meetings, and one impromptu meeting for the day. In between meetings, I continue to address the needs of my students as they arise, assist colleagues as needed, prepare for the next work day, and complete additional administrative and committee duties as assigned.

Throughout the day as I juggle multiple administrative tasks and work with students, I sometimes wonder, with all my responsibilities as nurse educator, whether I am as effective for students as I need to be. I think about whether or not I am explaining concepts in a culturally diverse manner that meets the individual needs of all my students. I also wonder to what extent my areas of inexperience as a nurse educator influences my students’ learning outcomes. After I advise students and they leave my office, I think about if I really got through to them or should I have immediately sent them to a more experienced faculty member. At the end of each workday, there are many “What if?” and “Should I have?” questions that race through my mind. Some days I leave work feeling like I have led students down the path of success, but then there are other days when I question whether or not I fit the mold of a true nurse educator. Each day brings with it highs and lows. Days that I experience the lows, I find comfort in knowing that I provided students with my best for that day because I took the time to prepare myself to develop and facilitate a positive learning opportunity for them.

To prepare for teaching, I review my daily plan as well as the objectives and goals for the day. I then prioritize other job-related tasks based on the level of importance and the need for immediate attention versus those tasks that can wait. I review my teaching materials once again before entering the class or lab to ensure I did not leave out a concept or skill that I want the students to learn for the day. I take the time to make sure my teaching objectives are purposeful and aligned with the class learning activities for the content being taught. This helps me to ensure that the outcome(s) I want students to achieve from the lesson are obtainable. If I am going to lecture, I practice speaking my presentation out loud, which helps me to re-familiarize myself with the content.

Another aspect of my preparation for the day is making sure I have developed appropriate assignments for students. When making assignments for students, I consider students’ knowledge levels about the focused topic or skill and how the assignment promotes students’ professional growth. I also consider students’ learning styles and the teaching approaches that best meet the various styles. I try to design assignments that are reasonable in difficulty and time so students are not burdened with excessive or unnecessary work.

To assess whether or not students met the intended learning objectives and goals for the day, appropriate evaluation methods are considered. When evaluating students, I consider if the evaluation tool was prepared to address each of the learning outcomes and if the evaluation tool or process was objective and fair. However, I also shift some of the evaluation results on the students by considering if they came prepared or not to meet the learning objectives. For example, I consider students’ attendance pattern, if they review the topic materials prior to coming to the learning environment, and if they present with a willingness and readiness to learn. Student information gathered through the evaluation process helps me determine which teaching style and teaching strategies are most effective in achieving the desired learning outcomes.

My personal teaching style is that of a facilitator, though occasionally I may choose to use a delegator, demonstrator, or blended (hybrid) style approach depending upon my student audience and the learning content. With regard to teaching strategies, I aim to be versatile in my approach. Examples of teaching strategies I use to facilitate student learning include lecturing; active learning activities (e.g., hands-on skill practice, role play, and simulation scenarios); cooperative learning (e.g., small group projects and group discussion); technology integration (e.g., online assignments); and case-based teaching (e.g., case studies). Regardless of the teaching strategies I select to implement with students in the learning environment, my overall goal is to use methodologies that engage students in the learning process and help them develop critical thinking skills.

However, I have learned that choosing the correct teaching strategy may not always be possible, thus causing unwarranted student challenges in the learning environment. For example, in an attempt to teach a topic on cardiovascular disease to a new cohort of level one nursing students, I presented the information using a style of teaching I do not use often, the lecture style. I found that if I lecture only, students tend to sit passively, appearing to be listening, but contribute very little to the active learning process. Because of the complexity of the topic, I thought this would be the best method of content delivery. However, approximately 1 week later, through students’ test exam results, I found that greater than 50% of the student cohort failed the exam. I quickly realized that the lecture style was not suitable for a complex topic like cardiovascular disease for this group of students. This incident challenged me to reevaluate my teaching method. In an effort to rectify the problem, through an open forum, I evaluated the students’ perception of how they felt they could learn the cardiovascular content best. I found that these students preferred to learn about the function of the heart in an active learning environment using high-fidelity simulation manikins in conjunction with brief explanations of major cardiovascular concepts. As a result of changing my teaching method from passive to active, these students were able to retest on the cardiovascular content and greater than 95% of the cohort successfully passed the exam. These students were also able to demonstrate competency of the cardiovascular concepts through skills application in the simulation lab. I feel I was able to make a difference in the learning success of my students just by listening to them and providing a more suitable learning environment for them.

LESSONS LEARNED FROM TRANSITIONING TO THE NURSE EDUCATOR ROLE

Despite my successes as a nurse educator, I know that there is much for me to learn. In striving to grow and develop into the most effective nurse educator I can be for my students, I continue to pursue education for myself. Over the last 4 years I studied hard and worked tirelessly to satisfy the requirements of a doctor of education degree. The knowledge and experiences gathered through the work toward this advanced level of education, coupled with my previous formal nursing education and clinical experiences, have certainly helped to prepare me for transitioning from a clinical expert to the nurse educator role. However, I am well aware that education alone cannot help a clinician effectively transition into this role and that additional preparation is needed.

It has taken a team approach to help transition me into the nurse educator I am today. I needed the support of my administrator, mentor, and colleagues as well and the organization I left. Maintaining a supportive collaborative relationship with my clinical family in my previous positions was essential to my transition because it allowed me to embrace the changes in my new role without regrets or hesitations. The most important factor that has influenced my decision to remain in the nurse educator role is my ability to play the integral part in the nursing profession that I had always hoped. I have been able to achieve what I consider to be my greatest contribution to nursing, which is to help others help themselves through education, by teaching them to think critically and intensively and to develop professional character.

I have learned that as a nurse educator you must have deep passion for inspiring others to be better and to do better through the power of education. For a new nurse educator, though the passion to teach may lay deep within the soul and the intent is to become an effective educator, both can easily be trampled down by the challenges that come with the role. Based on my transitional experiences from the role of an expert clinician to one of a novice nurse educator, I think it is necessary for educational programs and clinical sites to facilitate the role of a new nurse educator. To do this, I suggest that new nurse educators be shown support, understanding, and patience from both their departing and accepting administrations. They also need to be provided with professional development and mentorships specific to the role of a nurse educator. Finally, as a transitioning nurse educator, I would suggest that educational programs and clinical sites consider this one thought when facilitating the role of a new educator:

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