Any Clinical Teachers Out There?

llg, PhD, RN · May 8, 2010

The only way to know for sure is to give it a try and see how it goes. What experience with teaching do you have? Precepting?

showbizrn · May 8, 2010

:nurse:

most of us who have been teaching love it.

how do you know if it's right for you?

first acknowlege your fears and anxieties

and replace them with upbeat optimism

("i'm having fun!

i'm doing a good thing for nursing!

this works for me!")

enjoy each moment!

even when you make a mistake

or don't know the answer to a student's question---

"hmmm. i'm not sure but i'll get back to you" or

assign the students to research some of their questions

which provides great learning opportunities.

motivate the students towards successful completion of the clinical area.

i treat my students as "colleagues in-training."

of course for fromat and structure, ask colleagues for recommendations, information and literature.

:yeah: much success to you!!!

Destiny12 · May 8, 2010

Thank-you so much for your positive reply. I have such a hard time finding my niche in nursing. I have a quite a few jobs, turned down a few offers. All I want is a job where I start on time and end my day on time w/o the excess baggage. I love health promotion, education, and research. I am trying to get my masters, but I need a job yesterday but I can't get my brain to settle. I desperately want to enjoy what I do I have never had that opportunity. I don't want to dred going to work anymore.

EvelynRN-BSN · May 10, 2010

Hey all,
I have been job hunting for almost 5mos, It has been so stressful. But thanks to God I may have an opportunity to be clinical teacher. I am nervous just thinking about it. I have been in the profession a few years. Has any had feelings of fear, anxiety. I know this could be a great opportunity but how do I know if it's right for me?

The only way you will know if it is right for you is by doing it and giving it a try for one semester. I absolutely positively love it! Do you like helping other's learn? Do you like researching? Do like creativity? Do you like educating others and able to use different styles and techniques to teach others? Do you work well with other? Are you able to lead? Are you able to counsel? Are you able to give an take a little? Are you able to adapt to changes and make changes as needed when necessary? Are you up for challenges? Are you a mentor, counselor, listener, supportive, caring, understanding, leader, teacher, a friend, a teacher, etc? Can you adapt to different learning and teaching styles and be creative? Are you able to handle challenging/confronting students? And the very quiet ones? Able to get them excited about learning, able to get each student to get involved during pre/post conference? Get them to conquer their fears and believe in themselves? All this goes into teaching clinical. I love it and have found it to be very rewarding and when a student is lost in the beginning and they finally make their way through the forrest and have that light bulb moment, it is the best thing ever when they come to you to tell you they have had this moment and you can see the excitement on their face...It's the best thing in the world. When they Thank you for helping them learn is yet another rewarding thing that I love about teaching. It is a passion of mine and it is one of the most rewarding careers that I have had in Nursing and will always stay in this profession, along with the other nursing jobs that I have. I still remember my very first clinical group that I taught, it was a wonderful and rewarding semester. They were such a wonderful group. And they have all become RN's and have continued to keep in touch with me to this day. It's a great career! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. It's one of the BEST Jobs ever!!!

marty6001, EdD, EMT-P, APRN · May 10, 2010

You should have a mentor from the school with you or close by to assist you when you need it. Here's my pearls to being a great clinical instructor:

don't try to make up answers. Be honest. Say I don't know, or better yet, you look it up and tell us all in post conference.

you know more than you think you do. relax and remember what it means to be a nurse, and teach that to your students.

they are not there for patient assignments, they are there to learn. I teach procedures, full physical exam, medications over note writing and handling 3,4,5 patients.

Remember they are much more scared than you. Be their rock. Tell them they will survive and be great nurses if they put in the work.

Talk to your mentor. Often. Even more often than that. Most of us are in this for the right reasons, and are more than ready to assist you!!!

Finally.. Have fun!!! Teaching is the most rewarding thing you can do. I had a student tell me on our final night last week that she was thinking of quitting nursing after her first semester, than after our time together she realized how she makes a difference by being there for her patients. Because of me. I almost cried (and I'm a male nurse, imagine how I felt heheheh)

Moogie · May 10, 2010

Hey all,
I have been job hunting for almost 5mos, It has been so stressful. But thanks to God I may have an opportunity to be clinical teacher. I am nervous just thinking about it. I have been in the profession a few years. Has any had feelings of fear, anxiety. I know this could be a great opportunity but how do I know if it's right for me?

Destiny----

Find out a bit about the clinical site and specialty that you would be teaching. If it is in a facility with which you do not have familiarity, make sure you have an adequate orientation. I would even suggest spending a week or so shadowing one of the staff nurses just to become familiar with the place. Even if you have to do it on your own time (and without pay) it is worth it so you can understand the lay of the land better.

Also find out how many students you would have and request (forcefully!) copies of the school's syllabi so you know now only what you are supposed to teach in your course but also what material is covered in other courses. Saves on redundancy!

It also might help if you can shadow another instructor for a day before you are expected to do this on your own.

Also---do make sure that the school's expectations are realistic. I once talked to someone about a CI job and it turned out the school expected me to have students in three different areas of the facility at one time. Everything was under one roof but it was a hike to have to go from one part to the next. You don't want to be stuck going between floor or chasing students all over the building. It is not realistic and it isn't fair to you or the students.

I know you've been looking for a job for a while but don't be desperate. If something tells you this job isn't good, take heed. A bad teaching job can turn you off from teaching for good!

If you go into this with your eyes open you may end up loving being a CI! Hope all goes well for you!