Can you really teach what you don't know?

[MommyJoy]

Hello,

I was just hired as full time faculty at a local university. I thought during the interview process that I would be teaching adult health 1 (med/surg). I have now been assigned to teach patho. Don't get me wrong, I know patho is at the core of everything we teach...however, this is not my strong point. I worked med/surg for years, and feel very confident in this area. However, just looking at the patho book overwhelms me. How can I really regurgitate what I don't know? I feel like I am going to just be reading power points. I remember those professors who obviously didn't know the content. I just don't feel comfortable with this. Any advice besides "making my concerns known".

Really, I want to know from experienced educators...can you really, really teach what you barely know or are frantically trying to relearn?

[newnicurn]

I'm sorry I have no advice for you. I am currently in a MSN nursing education program. We have a choice of staff development or faculty role. I am leaning to staff develop for that very reason. I am taking patho now & its killing me. (finial on Thursday yes!) I feel more lost now than in undergrad. I would not feel comofortable teaching it. The first question from a student would break me out in tears and hives. Maybe I could fake it in a online class. Good look to you.

P.S. I got additional text because my required one & its study guide was useless. (Understanding patho by Porth) Try these: understanding pathophysiology and study guide by Sue E. Huether RN PhD and Kathryn L. McCance RN PhD. Pathophysiology made incredibly easy by Lippincott.

These text broke it done simply. My instructor is not a nurse he is a MD teaching the MSN program. I think that has a lot to do with my difficulty. He doesn't provide study guides or anything. I think if you give study guides for the students that will help you as well as them get on track and understand better.

Hope this helps.

[elkpark]

In my first teaching job out of grad school, my program director used to smile broadly and say, "(elkpark), cross-training is the soul of nursing education!" By which she meant I could be assigned to teach stuff I hadn't thought about since my diploma program a decade earlier. I got hired to teach the psych lecture and clinicals (my area of specialty) -- but the psych course only happened one quarter of the year, and, in order to have a full-time job, I needed to teach other stuff the other three quarters ... It was challenging, and hard work, but I made it work (fortunately, I "team-taught" the advanced Med-Surg course with a crack med-surg nurse who didn't have her MSN yet but had forgotten more about med-surg nursing than I've ever known :)).

In large nursing programs, you may have the luxury of teaching only in your specialty area. But lots of programs hire faculty to be "jacks of all trades" and teach whatever needs teaching. It's your job to prepare yourself for the classes and be able to convey the information to students in a meaningful, useful way. Best wishes!

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

You can teach what you don't know NOW, but you'll have to learn about it along the way, to teach it effectively. It will be a big learning curve and will take oodles of time and energy. Sometimes that's what teachers have to do, for whatever reason. We usually feel incompetent on the first try, or close to incompetent. Anything new puts us right back in novice role!

Good luck to you!

[lefrench123]

I work as a clinical instructor for a local university, and would love to have a full-time position in the classroom. I have worked in Med-Surg, ER, ICU, and step-down, and was offered a position teaching OB content:no:. As soon as she mentioned it, I had this futuristic vision of me in a classroom full of students with questions I could not answer. I immediately declined. The good thing about patho is that you know the stuff, you apply it every day. Can you get in touch with previous faculty who taught the class, or does the school offer you a mentor? Maybe they can give you tips on how to convey the content your going to be teaching.

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

I have to agree that you can learn what you need to know. Don't forget, you know a lot more about patho now than your students. If you look at the gap in their knowledge between what they know now, and what they need to know, you can fill that gap. You do not have to be an expert in patho to do this. It will be a lot of work, and you will learn a lot. If you prepare you should be fine.

[suni, BSN, RN]

I also agree that you can teach this it is a ton of work. I am not a cardiac nurse and guess what this is what I taught my first year. I still struggle with it at times, not because I do not know it but it is difficult at times for me to get the students to grasp the concept and just how important it is to understand the patho. I think if you can give work experiences and I am sure you have many, case studies work great and you probably have a ton of those in your mind also. You will do great but it will be challenging at first. you go girl!

[morte, LPN, LVN]

perhaps this is why we have so many students coming here and complaining the teachers seem to not have a clue?

is it fair to student or teacher?

[dmapp63, MSN, RN]

If you change the title of your role from "teacher" to "facilitator" you will take some of the pressure off of yourself. We are with students to "facilitate" their learning. Yes, you will have to do some "prep" work prior to your "teaching-learning" encounters to enable you to explain concepts that students don't understand. But students should be reading prior to arriving at class (and they don't want you "reading power point slides" to them. I use tools in class to help them apply their learning (case studies, questions). I like the concept of educator as the "guide on the side" as opposed to "sage on the stage". Good luck to you!!

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

there are some patho courses online (study guides, lecture notes). Might get some hints there. Remember, it is like horse training. Youu only need to know more than the horse.

[SRDAVIS]

You have to teach yourself patho. If this is your first time teaching you would still have to teach yourself med surg, trust me I speak from experience. Remember real world and academic world are not always parallel. I think I can speak for all of us by saying the first year is challenging. The joke at my first teaching job was that I slept with Mr Med Surg, referring to the book. Anyway I said that to say YES you can do, it but you are going to have put in the hours to prepare yourself for lecture. And buy another patho book to know different ways to explain it also, patho for dummies, made incredible easy to help your transition.

Yes us edumacators work hard.

Good luck.

[SRDAVIS]

Everyone has to start from the beginning. I was offered a position to teach med surg I am a floor nurse. I assumed I got this its not a speciality and I still was like OMG. Yes it will take ALOT of work on her end but no one is an expert starting off. Especially not an expert on instruction.