This article candidly describes my struggles as a novice nurse educator and discusses how developing the resilient quality of hardiness is key to success as a nurse educator.
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Hardiness is an essential trait that one must develop to survive and thrive as a nurse educator. Some might call this "growing a thick skin," but it is much more than that. The quality of hardiness offers a stabilizing positive resistance to buffer the negative effects of multiple demands and trying circumstances that are inherent in the nurse educator role. A notable example of hardiness is the stately alpine fir, which flourishes under the harshest environmental conditions, withstanding temperatures of -50f and below.
As a novice nursing instructor with very little teaching experience, I vividly remember feeling totally overwhelmed, discouraged, and exhausted. During my first semester as faculty in a small adn program, I was spending at least 70 hours per week frantically creating lectures from scratch, trying to effectively present the material during half day blocks of assigned classroom time, conducting clinicals on two different units, creating tests and study guides, and grading seemingly endless mountains of assignments and care plans. My predecessor had left me only scraps of notes from the lectures she had taught and I had no mentor. I thought I was doing well if I stayed two weeks ahead of the students with the lecture content. I learned to teach in the real-life laboratory of the classroom through the "school of hard knocks," with little guidance, direction, or feedback from faculty peers.
During my second semester, the challenges only intensified. I was assigned a clinical group on a medical floor notorious for its poisonous atmosphere, where the nurses were bitter, rude, and demeaning. This clinical proved to be a disastrous experience for both the students and myself. By the end of this semester, I felt like my budding career as a nurse educator was over and I was ready to throw in the towel. Only at the insistence of the director of the adn program did I decide to stay. Now, eight years later, I am so glad I stuck it out after these ordeals so early in my career. Tried and tested, nursing education has proven to be my niche.
What, then, is hardiness and how does a nurse educator develop this essential trait? Hardiness has been defined as a "mindset exhibited by an individual that makes him or her resistant to the negative impacts of stressful circumstances and events" (mosby's dictionary of complementary and alternative medicine, 2005, para 1). Three key behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes that are associated with hardiness are control, challenge, and commitment.
Control is the behaviorial response of being proactive and influential when facing adversity, rather than being reactive and feeling helpless. The proactive person takes control in a situation by anticipating problems and then strategizing ways to help prevent or solve these problems, rather than merely waiting for something to happen.
Challenge is the belief that change, rather than stability, is a normal part of life. "to live is to grow and to grow is to change." rather than viewing change as a crisis or threat, change should be embraced as an opportunity for personal growth. To successfully confront change, we must develop effective coping strategies and problem solving skills. The resilient nurse educator should never entertain a victim attitude. Instead, every experience, no matter how negative or painful, provides us with valuable opportunities for learning what works and what doesn't work. We become better educators as we embrace change and learn from our mistakes.
Commitment is an attitude of responsibility, purpose, and dedication that results in active involvement rather than passive withdrawal. Instead of the "duck and run" attitude, we can choose to stand firm and become a positive effector of change in the academic environment.
The quality of hardiness is essential for success in a profession that often throws us more blows than kisses. So if you are facing adverse circumstances as a nurse educator, please don't give up. Develop the inner strengths of control, challenge, and commitment to help weather life's storms and transition successfully to the other side. There will certainly be challenges on the journey, but the rewards in the end make all the challenges worthwhile.
