Advanced Nursing Practice

Biography

Biography: Rachel Shrabani

Abstract

Nursing teachers teach and consult the next generation of nurses. They serve as role models for nursing students and guide students through the challenges that accompany them in learning to be a nurse (Greenwood, 2017). Nursing teachers provide instruction in the classroom and in some cases also work in clinical settings such as hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes. Most nursing schools also have clinical laboratories where students learn to perform basic nursing tasks such as managing medications, inserting catheters, giving injections and other hands-on skills, under the direct supervision of a nursing teacher. After the students have finished learning these skills they continue to the perceptorship, where they treat patients and perform the clinical skills taught in class under the supervision of the preceptor, who supervises trials and actual practice (Greenwood, 2017). The question is whether nursing teachers must have clinical experience as a nurse in the field, or is  it enough for them to teach at nursing school? In this study I will present a discussion I held at a nursing school among the teachers on the role of nursing teachers and the essentialness of practice in the field, concurrent with their work as nursing school teachers. Another discussion held included a group of students as well. The purpose of the discussion was to examine the attitudes of those engaged in nursing and in nursing education with regard to the clinical effectiveness (clinical competence) of the nursing teacher and how it can be maintained and improved. The conclusions presented in the study, representing the personal attitudes of the teachers and students, offer educational and political recommendations for the national head of nursing.