How has everyone been?

nightingale, RN · Mar 14, 2002

You do not know me either. I too do enjoy reading your posts and look forward to hearing from you.

I work in Denver as an agency nurse. Live in Wyoming. I am a new memeber of WNA and ANA (thanks to the posters here).Trying to figure out if I want to go the Nurse Educator route.. hmm.. I will watch your posts with interest....

I just negotiated a contract (gee that sounds like I am making real money and I am not) to work as a camp nurse this summer in upstate New York. I am required to call my charge nurse INFIRMARY GODDESS or OGIF (Oh Great Infirmary Goddess). I met the charge nurse on AllNurses.... lol

hehe love the pic too!

Bonnie

Tim-GNP · Mar 14, 2002

Mario:

It's good to meet you! The only problem is that nursing education has not changed to meet the changing times in education. Unless we make a deliberate effort, we tend to teach as we have been taught. I reflect on the days of my LPN program-- the instructors rode brooms to clinical! They played mind games and taught that you were a second class citizen!

The real unfortunate thing is, in a college/university, to teach, all that you need is the degree beyond the level you intend to teach- You don't need any type of formal education in education. Most nursing instructors have never had a single course on curriculum development, educational psychology, theories of learning, etc. They were expert practitioners, but just because you can 'do' doesn't mean that you can 'teach.'

I have a serious problem with nursing education in the U.S. Much of it is rote-mode memorization and control. There is very little effort to define learning styles of students and alter teaching methods to accomodate those styles. The majority of education in nurisng is built on what Paolo Freire called the "banking" theory of education, in which students are viewed as empty containers, in which the instructor must impart their sacred knowledge.

In the last semester of my master's program, we had to write a management paper [l never forget this as long as I live]. When the papers were handed back, I nearly fell off my seat when I saw that I had received a 60 on it! The instructor who graded my paper was a floor nurse for many years until she was hired to teach, and then pretty much gave up on nursing altogether. I went to her and tried to get a sane answer from her about why my paper was graded so poorly. She was a control freak.... finally, [since it was the last semester and graduation was a week away], I told her a bit of my background [i'm a licensed nursing home administrator and have worked for a management company administering multiple facilities in different states]. She said 'I don't care... you just have a license in administration... that doesn't mean you know about it.' She told me that I could re-write the paper [which was a 20 page paper dealing with how to implement planned change in a nursing home---- basically the thing that I did for many years]. I told her she could stick my paper where the sun didn't shine, [two witnesses present, both gasped!], and told her that I forgot more about administration than her dense little mind could ever comprehend. The graduate dean did call me at home the following morning! [Thank goodness that she was cool about it].

I explained to the graduate dean the grade and what I wrote the paper on, and gave her the gist of my paper. She didn't understand the poor grade either. As it was only worth 15% of the final grade, I didn't really care too much. That instructor, by the way, is still there--- attitude and all.

The moral of the story is... education in nursing is still a dehumanizing experience- in a study I did in my master's program, it was 'suggested' that nurses have lower measures of self concept than than cohorts in business/accounting, management, etc. Could you imagine that?

Tim-GNP · Mar 14, 2002

Nightngale1998, it's good to meet you!!! And welcome to ANA. I enjoy my work with the state nurses association, and I hope you enjoy it too!!!

135ctv · Mar 14, 2002

Originally posted by Tim-GNP
in a study I did in my master's program, it was 'suggested' that nurses have lower measures of self concept than than cohorts in business/accounting, management, etc. Could you imagine that? [/b]

I agree. Having worked in the corporate world for 17 years prior to switching to healthcare, I have noticed that nurses (and other healthcare workers) do seem to have a lower self concept. They do seem to feel that "that's just the way it is" or almost as if they don't deserve more. Overall, I had not observed this occurring in the business world to the extent that I see it in healthcare.

live4today, RN · Mar 14, 2002

Originally posted by Tim-GNP
Mario:

The real unfortunate thing is, in a college/university, to teach, all that you need is the degree beyond the level you intend to teach- You don't need any type of formal education in education. Most nursing instructors have never had a single course on curriculum development, educational psychology, theories of learning, etc. They were expert practitioners, but just because you can 'do' doesn't mean that you can 'teach.'

________________________________________________

Hi Tim,

Nice to meet you! During the time I went through my AAS program, every instructor I had was a Master's Degree Professor/Instructor, except the one who taught my L&D/Mother-Baby rotation. She was hired because she was only a few courses shy of earning her MSN, and she was the best one for the job, being that she also worked in the area in which she was teaching, And, what an excellent Instructor she was, too! :)

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Mar 15, 2002

Since I started redoing my statistics course I've stopped wearing my seatbelt and reminded all the ER staff about my documented DNR order. But no luck so far.

Q. · Mar 16, 2002

Hi Tim-

I agree with you on the teaching thing. When I decided to go back to school, I knew I wanted to teach in SOME format, whether it was a faculty position or staff development. When I looked at the various curriculums offered at the 9 nursing schools here, only one had an "educational" focus - and that is the program I chose.

We have educational psych (as you may know from my comment about my paper), instructional design, etc. The curriculum teaches you HOW to teach. It's very, very good - I would recommend it for any nurse who wants to be an educator.

There needs to be more focus in this area, I think, because there is alot to learn about teaching.

micro, RN · Mar 16, 2002

TimGNP---------great news on your schooling'.........

don't think you and I have ever communicated on these threads...........but I congratulate you anyways.............

you are so right..........there is such a difference between the knowledge base of someone(no matter how proficient and how knowledgeable

how do you bring this knowledge to the student..............and LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am in learning mode myself.........until day I die from this earth...................

but can tell you this.................

I love it when nursing students come onto the floor, LPN or RN or RT............even my s.o. is in LPN program right now...................

one of my passions right now is BCLS.............I am an instructor.............I love it.........imparting and sharing knowledge........while having fun.............it is a blast......and fulfilling a CEU!...............

and yes after ten years am hiding no longer, am taking ACLS this fall!

Tim-GNP · Mar 18, 2002

I never had the nerve for it... I leave acute care nursing to those who do it the best... the acute care nurses!