Do you think of "Nursing Education" as a nursing specialty?

Nurses General Nursing

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  1. Do you think of "Nursing Education" as a nursing specialty?

    • 122
      Yes
    • 19
      No

141 members have participated

This month's survey Question:

Do you think of "Nursing Education" as a nursing specialty?

Please take a minute to take answer our survey and please feel free to reply to this topic to post any comments that you may have on the topic.

Nursing education is definitely a specialty. It isn't something you can just do; you must have extra education (a MSN- the same as all specialty nursing- NPs, CRNAs, CNMs, and CNSs). The difference is the specialty of clinical experience, which educators do not necessarily get. However, I can tell you after my 2 years doing my MSN I dare someone to tell me I am not a specialist compared to my peers. I have a tremendous amount of education and have worked hard to gain the knowledge to teach.

:rolleyes:

Although I appreciate your perspective, I must state that I respectfully disagree. To be a truly great nursing instructor, one must be the BEST from two distinct areas: the BEST bedside nurse (often in a variety of clinical settings) and the BEST instructor (which often takes years of practice, education, and constant self-evaluation).

When that clinical nursing instructor takes a group of nursing students up to the clinical floor, that nursing instructor better know her stuff :rotfl: His/her very license is on the line as all 6-10 students are operating under it! The students are also looking to the instructor as a role model--the instructor's clinical knowledge and skills must be current, the instructor must possess awesome critical thinking skills, the instructor must be an expert negotiator and diplomat, and the instructor must be professional at all times (the students watch the instructor carefully, modeling his/her attitude, responses, etc.).

It is an awesome responsibility and never can be taken lightly.

Especially with the associate degree nursing instructor, one must be a jack of all trades and be extraordinarily flexible--in my case for instance, I hold clinicals on a general medical-surgical floor in a small community hospital, on a pediatric floor (complete with children on monitors) in a large teaching hospital, and on a cardiac surgery stepdown unit (also in the large teaching hospital). If need be, I can also step in and hold clinicals on the postpartum floor and in the newborn nursery.

:rolleyes:
I am a new nurse educator, LPN nursing instructor, after 21 years as a Nurse midwife. I feel that you need to have the experience to be able to give the students the passion that you feel. I to am going back to school, to earn a Masters as a CNS, so that I can teach in an Assoicate nursing program. I am learning how to teach, which is not easy. So many times the students want you to give them the answers so they will not have to do any work. I think being a nurse educator is very challenging. i know the content and I am learning the methods. last year I went to Memphis TN to a conference for nurse educators and learned so much. It is not how you get up in front of the class and present the material but how the students take responsibility for learning themselves. I love the subject I am teaching and I am learning a new subject for me Pharmacology now if anyone can help me make this fun I would like to know especially after lunch.

The greatest joy is being a mother , the second greatest joy is being a midwife

Nursing education is definitely a specialty. It isn't something you can just do; you must have extra education (a MSN- the same as all specialty nursing- NPs, CRNAs, CNMs, and CNSs). The difference is the specialty of clinical experience, which educators do not necessarily get. However, I can tell you after my 2 years doing my MSN I dare someone to tell me I am not a specialist compared to my peers. I have a tremendous amount of education and have worked hard to gain the knowledge to teach.

I whole heartedly agree -- a clinical nurse specialist may have found the perfect fit for her goals and aspirations, but as is the case of this particular person-- may not have learned how to play nicely with others or how to teach those skills to others. I have nearly 20 years of bedside nursing experience and now (with my MSN in nursing education/administration) am well equipt to teach those skills to others as well -- I have learned about teaching strategies, learning styles, presence etc. It REALLY yanks my crank when this particular CNS diva stands before the other members of the facility's education department and states that those of us without our CNS certification are "merely master's prepared nurses". I too worked hard to get where I am today -- just because I choose a different path than she has should not in any way threaten her and cause her to be so defensive and belittling!

This same CNS came to my office and informed me that I "need to return to school,(told me which school I should attend, who my advisor should e and what clases to take) and get my pediatric CNS so that I could be useful and fill a gap in our CNS coverage here". The advice was not only unsolicited but unappreciated. My goal is to teach at a nearby University (which I am in the process of interviewing for -- so I can leave this place and work where the degree I have is valued). When I do return to school -- it will be to earn my Phd or doctorate of nursing ed. NOT my CNS -- not because I look down on CNS certification, but because the other fits better with the goals I have.

Why we can't appreciate and capitalize on the different strengths we all have is beyond me! Our different goals and gifts COULD make our department great -- instead, this person is intent on tearing it apart. In this particular case, even our director has come inder this CNS's fire -- the director is "merely a master's prepared nurse" as well. She has however bought into the notion that the CNS (who is NOT management) should direct the direction the department goes. I believe she is overwhelmed by her workload and intimidated by this particular CNS. There is little communication with the rest of the department. I can't see myself sticking around much longer.

I'm just a student, but I'll tell you what I have observed with my current educators. They are EXTREMELY KNOWLEDGEABLE and have put in more schooling and more bedside time than many of us will ever see. I vote yes!

Specializes in Research,Peds,Neuro,Psych,.

I voted YES. I have the pleasure of working with two nurse educators. They were both hired with experience and they both are NP's/Master Degreed. I have tremendous respect and admiration for them. They travel around the state to talk about all aspects of HIV and help coordinate education for our department's employees. I really enjoy hearing them speak..they love what they do and it shows. True nurse educators do far more than simple patient education.

I do think that Nursing Education is a specialty...I at least hope it is as I am working on my masters in it at this time!!

In fact, I am doing some research and having a hard time finding easy to access nursing newletters. Any tips?

Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.

theres that old saying

Those that can do it

those who cant, teach it

so maybe its a specialty of those who cant

theres that old saying

Those that can do it

those who cant, teach it

so maybe its a specialty of those who cant

OOOOOHHHH! Low blow.:stone Educators not only CAN, but have to be able to DO it AND explain it to others in simple enough terms that the novices can understand it and be able to figure out how to do it too. Anybody can go through motions -- monkeys can be trained to DO stuff -- higher intelligence is needed to teach and train the monkeys!:rolleyes:

Nursing education is not a speciality in the facility setting, because as some other posters have said, sometimes they are the only one who applied for the job, have little practical experience, have earned the position by doing favors for administration, and are mostly not prepared to really teach. In all of my years, I can count on one hand the nurse educators in a facility who really did the job and did it well.

I have spent too many hours, including some in November, being taught by a person who had no practical experience, in fact, she was wrong and needed help by us poor working nurses to point out she had her presentation backwards. She was not appreciative, and we were not too interested in what she had to say. :rolleyes:

Nursing education is not a speciality in the facility setting, because as some other posters have said, sometimes they are the only one who applied for the job, have little practical experience, have earned the position by doing favors for administration, and are mostly not prepared to really teach. In all of my years, I can count on one hand the nurse educators in a facility who really did the job and did it well.

I have spent too many hours, including some in November, being taught by a person who had no practical experience, in fact, she was wrong and needed help by us poor working nurses to point out she had her presentation backwards. She was not appreciative, and we were not too interested in what she had to say. :rolleyes:

I pity those of you who have had poor experiences with educators. It is a shame that those bad examples have jaded you toward educators as a speciality though.

If you had a dentist you were unhappy with, would that cause you to write off all dentists? How about all mechanics? All plumbers? Granted- there are aa vast number of "pseudo educators" wandering the hallways of facilities giving inservices or lecturing staff on techniques with little knowledge of the procedure and even less about the learning process fo those they are teaching: but there are also those of us who have worked very hard as staff nurses, continued on with our education to get degrees in nursing education -- specifically to learn how to best teach nurses how to be better nurses.

I love being a nurse and teaching nursing as well. I love teaching adult learners -- they are motivated, intelligent and often interested. You are right, not everyone can teach! It is a specialty -- a gift - a calling -- much like nursing is. And to teach nursing - Whew!:p

Nursing education is not a speciality in the facility setting, because as some other posters have said, sometimes they are the only one who applied for the job, have little practical experience, have earned the position by doing favors for administration, and are mostly not ;) prepared to really teach. In all of my years, I can count on one hand the nurse educators in a facility who really did the job and did it well.

I have spent too many hours, including some in November, being taught by a person who had no practical experience, in fact, she was wrong and needed help by us poor working nurses to point out she had her presentation backwards. She was not appreciative, and we were not too interested in what she had to say. :rolleyes:

I'm not sure if the facility you work in is that bad, or maybe the view from your position is so bad. Unfortunately when I was an educator, I also witnessed those who did not do their nursing job well. Does that mean you think they are not nurses????? I think that using a poor performer to justify a belief is poor logic at best. ;)

You are certainly right that some persons get a position (even staff nurses sometimes) for the wrong reason, and some individuals even fail to perform the responsibilities of a position. However, a qualified nurse educator MUST use knowledge from both the nursing domain and the education domain. A compenent educator IS a specialist as they have additional knowledge beyond the basic nursing education.

I sure hope you can share your concerns with administration at your facility. If you look at required compentencies for nursing and nursing educators, your organization has a long way to go to achieve quality care. If things are as bad as you indicate, I hope you can steer them in the right direction. What a wonderful opportunity! :balloons:

Mars

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