NUR 648 Role of Nurse Educator and Curriculum Development
NUR 648 Role of Nurse Educator and Curriculum Development
NUR 648 Role of Nurse Educator and Curriculum Development
https://topnursingpapers.com/nur-648-role-of-…ulum-development/
Health care is a continually evolving field driven by various changes. Nurse educators need an understanding of changes in health care and the driving forces behind them in order to create a relevant and contemporary curriculum. The purpose of this assignment is to describe the role of the nurse educator and to identify internal and external influences on curriculum development and how those changes influence the role of the nurse educator.
In a 1,000-1,250 word essay, describe various aspects of the role of a nurse educator and the internal and external influences driving curriculum development. Include the following in your essay:
Summarize the role of a nurse educator in curriculum development according to the National League for Nursing Nurse Educator Competencies.
Explain how the nurse educator role changes in different settings (e.g., classroom, clinical, bedside, or simulation).
Explain how nursing education theories influence the nurse educator role. Provide specific examples.
Explain what curriculum is and summarize the curriculum design process.
Identify three internal and three external influences on curriculum development. Describe how they play a role in curriculum development.
This assignment requires 4-6 cited sources.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.
Nurse educators inspire, teach, and mentor the next generation of nurses, leading the way to the future of patient care. Without them, graduating nurses would be ill-equipped to face the ever-changing demands of today’s dynamic healthcare system.
The best nurse educators take time to invest in their students and teams at a personal level. They prepare aspiring nurses for the transition to the real world, and their efforts don’t stop at graduation; many nurse educators continue mentoring and advising nurses throughout their careers.
In today’s article, we’ll discuss how leaders in nurse education play significant roles in shaping the future of nursing.
What is a Nurse Educator?
Instead of dedicating their career exclusively to patient care, a nurse educator is passionate about teaching and advocating for nurses. They instruct aspiring nurses and offer guidance, which may include training in both practical and educational settings.
Nurse educators hold an advanced degree, either a master’s or doctoral. They are often employed by universities, but are also found in hospital or clinical settings where they keep nurses up-to-date on the latest needs in health and patient care.
The World Health Organization (WHO) outlines eight core competencies for nurse educators which are, in summary:
- Theories and principles of adult learning
- Curriculum design and implementation
- Nursing practice
- Research and evidence
- , collaboration, and partnership
- Ethical/ legal principles and professionalism
- Monitoring and evaluation
- Management, leadership and advocacy
Nurse Educators in an Academic Setting
Nurse educators play an important role in promoting quality nurse education.
In community colleges and universities, nurse educators teach in a traditional setting. They instruct others using a curriculum they’ve created and find new ways to engage students. These teaching strategies are grounded in educational theory and evidence-based practices.
Effective nurse educators are passionate, lifelong learners who work to keep up with changing techniques in technology, medicine, and teaching.
Roles of a Faculty Nurse Educator
Balancing all the duties required of an educator can be tricky, especially as a member of university faculty.
Not only teachers, nurse educators serve as administrators, advisors, clinical coaches, lab instructors, mentors to new faculty members, course developers, researchers, and more.
It’s also crucial that a faculty works together as a team, sharing the load and providing students with a truly exceptional nurse education.
The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) categorizes a nurse educator’s duties into three main roles: collaborator, director of student learning, and role model.
Collaborators
Nurse educators are collaborators, capable of bringing others together and building partnerships. Aside from nursing staff, they coordinate student learning with professors across all disciplines.
Nurse educators also prepare students to work as a team in an environment where collaborative relationships have been directly linked to better patient outcomes.
Director of Student Learning
The director of student learning encourages development of staff, program, and curriculum. A faculty member in this role should have graduate level courses in education as well as nursing.
Role Models for Students
Nurse educators provide ongoing mentorship and serve as examples to students through various stages of hands-on learning. It’s an especially important role in clinical development, where students look to their teachers for feedback on patient interaction, decision-making, and health assessment.
Role Models for Faculty
Seasoned nurse educators serve as role models for newer faculty as well. By spearheading a culture of learning, nurse educators can inspire each other to improve the delivery of nurse education.
Nurse Educators in a Hospital Setting
A nurse educator’s role looks a bit different in a hospital setting. Rather than instructing students who are at the beginning their nurse education, these educators support working, registered nurses through experiential learning.
Fostering Growth
Nurse educators work with their teams and other staff to assess each students’ capabilities. This gathering of information, combined with direct observations, allows them to provide feedback on ways the student can improve within the healthcare setting.
Some areas of student evaluation may include:
- Effectiveness in applying person-centered care
- Independently implementing and following up on nursing interventions
- Being able to accurately document patient history, status, diagnosis, actions, and summary of care
In addition to student development, nurse educators also support the professional growth of healthcare teams. This often involves arranging team-building exercises and educational seminars for nursing staff and colleagues.
Researchers
When it comes to research, nurse educators serve as advisors, collaborators, and patient advocates.They are an excellent resource for nurses who are working on clinical research, answering questions and ensuring that patients receive the protection they need.
Servant Leaders
Nurse educators lead by example as they support and guide nurses during transitional periods. They serve with ethical conviction and professionalism, encouraging their team to do the same.
Through their actions, nurse educators are responsible for creating a team that communicates well and works together, improving patient care along the way.
Nurse Educators and Staff Retention
Since nurse educators help support the development of new staff, more professionals in this role can help alleviate turnover. With nearly one out of every five new nurses quitting their jobs within the first year, on-the-job support is needed.
From an employer’s perspective, this kind of turnover can cost them as much as $88,000 per nurse.
Organizations have also found their turnover rate decreases when they foster a culture that promotes learning and encourages skill-building.
Creating a Positive Culture
Nurse educators are essential in creating a positive work environment. When they do their job well, their team is more likely to stay, decreasing turnover rates and giving everyone a win.
The bottom line: nurses that feel heard, understood, and supported, are more likely to stay in their position and thrive.
If your organization is seeking ways to improve nursing staff retention, Global Health Education (GHE) can help. GHE specializes in partnering with employers to hire and retain the best talent for your team.
We can help you find the right fit by optimizing your tuition assistance programs and education benefits.
Additional Sources:
What does a Nursing Professional Development Specialist (Nurse Educator) do?
https://online.walsh.edu/news/what-does-nurse-educator-hospital-setting-do%3F
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2377960817697712
The Role of a Nurse Educator in Curriculum Development
According to the National League for Nursing (2020), the role of a nurse educator in curriculum development encompasses eight salient areas. These are the eight nurse educator competencies which promote excellence for nurse educators. They also cement the place of nursing education as a specialty area of its own (National League for Nursing, 2020). The first competency is the facilitation of learning for the nurse students. The nurse educator is supposed to create a conducive learning environment in all settings. This includes the classroom, the clinical area, and the laboratory settings. Whilst doing this, the nurse educator is also supposed to facilitate the attainment of the relevant psychomotor, cognitive, and affective domain outcomes. The second competency or role is the facilitation of the development of the nursing students and their socialization into nursing practice. The nurse educator is responsible for transforming nursing students from potential nurses into professional nurses. She has the role of helping her students internalise the values, conduct, and demeanor that the nursing profession is associated with. Third on the competency list or roles is the use of appropriate evaluation and assessment strategies. The nurse educator is supposed to come up with appropriate means to gauge student progress in the classroom and other settings by using various strategies. In doing this the nurse educator is expected to assess student progress in all the three domains of learning (cognitive, affective, and psychomotor). The fourth nurse educator role or competency requires that she be involved in curriculum design and the evaluation of program outcomes. She is expected to participate in the development of curricula that are in line with current developments and advances in healthcare trends and technology. Moreover, she has the role of coming up with program outcomes and how they will be measured. All this will enable the nursing graduates to be efficient and successful in practice after going through the curriculum (National League for Nursing, 2020).(NUR 648E) Role of Nurse Educator and Curriculum Development.
The fifth role or competency of the nurse educator is that of a leader and agent for change. As a nurse educator, she is expected to influence the future of nurse education and nursing practice for the better. Sixth on the role or competency of a nurse educator is seeking of continuous improvement in quality with regard to the nurse educator role. This fosters more efficiency and more effectiveness. Second last on the competencies or role of a nurse educator states that she should be involved in scholarship. It is acknowledged that teaching on its own merit is scholarship. However the nurse educator is expected to engage in scholarly activities such as publishing and doing research. Lastly, the nurse educator is expected to understand the prevailing educational environment. On this, she should be aware of what is going on around her. She should also appreciate the significance of the influence of political, social, institutional, and economic forces on nursing education (National League for Nursing, 2020).(NUR 648E) Role of Nurse Educator and Curriculum Development.
Changing Nurse Educator Role in Different Settings
The nurse educator role as has been seen above is multifaceted and multidimensional. Acknowledging that the nurse educator has a slightly varying role in each educational setting, there is need to clarify these nuances. Teaching settings for the nurse educator include the classroom, the clinical area, and the laboratory. In the clinical area, the nurse educator’s role is more of bringing out the best in student attitude (affective domain) and practical hands-on skills (psychomotor domain). In the classroom setting, the nurse educator role changes to the passing on of mainly cognitive domain material involving knowledge and recall of facts. At the bedside, the nurse educator role is to bring out more of the affective domain (attitudes towards patient and the nursing profession). Lastly, in a simulation setting the nurse educator emphasizes on the psychomotor domain and brings out the nexus between the domain and the cognitive domain (RegisteredNursing.org, 2019).(NUR 648E) Role of Nurse Educator and Curriculum Development.
Influence of Nursing Education Theories on Nurse Educator Role
Nursing education theories provide the conceptual or theoretical framework upon which curriculum development and teaching of nurse students occurs. These theories therefore influence the role of the nurse educator in profound ways. Examples are the Self-Care Nursing Theory, the Humanistic Nursing Theory, and the Need Theory (Duquesne University, n.d.). For instance, the self-care nursing theory impacts the role of the nurse educator in that it advocates for the patient to be self sufficient and in charge of their own care. This is exactly what the nurse educator teaches her nursing students to bestow on their patients (bioethical principle of autonomy). The humanistic nursing theory on the other hand looks at the patient as a holistic human being (Duquesne University, n.d.) Therefore, this theory influences the role of the nurse educator in that it guides her to teach her students to be holistic nurses who are culturally sensitive and competent.
The Curriculum Design Process
A curriculum could be defined as a planned and guided learning process that is done as a group or individually, within or without a learning institution (Shanthi & Angeline, 2015). Curriculum development itself is a complicated, meticulous, and tedious process.(NUR 648E) Role of Nurse Educator and Curriculum Development. The stages of the process are analysis (of what is needed, the knowledge required, the practical skills required, and the attitude to be passed on), design (taking into account the mission, vision, and goals of the teaching institution), development (courses required, teaching methodology, and assessment modalities), implementation, and evaluation (Shanthi & Angeline, 2015).
Internal and External Influence on Curriculum Development
Three internal influences on curriculum development could be summed up as faculty background, institutional mission (King, 2010) and institutional goals. The external influences on the curriculum, on the other hand, include the marketplace or employers (Ashraf, n.d.), technology, and type of student. Internal influences like faculty background menas the calibre of nurse educator working on the curriculum. This determines whether it is good or bad. External influences like the marketplace means the calibre of nurses needed by employers. This informs the type of curriculum developed.
Conclusion
The role of the nurse educator is important in the development of the curriculum for nurse students. However, this role is influenced by factors such as nursing theories that underpin the theoretical framework of the curricula. In all, the role of the nutse educator in curriculum development is multifaceted and of great importance.(NUR 648E) Role of Nurse Educator and Curriculum Development.