Question of the Month: Nursing Faculty Working Part-time in Clinical Settings?

Specialties Educators

Published

  1. Should Nursing Faculty Work Part-time in a Clinical Setting?

    • 25
      Yes, it should be required.
    • 30
      Yes, but only if paid time off is provided from the regular schedule.
    • 4
      No, this is unnecessay.
    • 17
      No, nursing instructors have enough to do without this added requirement.

76 members have participated

Should nursing faculty be required to work part-time in a clinical setting? Without a question, nursing education is a specialty in and of itself. The work can be exhausting, but both the demands and rewards are plenteous. Many instructors do not have the time or energy to work part-time. Nursing instructors come from an ever-increasing variety of backgrounds, and some have never practiced in the "typical" acute care setting. One can also argue that since nursing is a practice discipline, nursing educators should remain current in clinical practices and skills by working at least a few shifts a month in a hospital setting. What is your opinion on this subject?

Thanks to those who support my point of view.

Just to clarify one point. We are not given time off for working in a clinical setting to remain current. To do this, I would be working my already 40+ hour a week position, but then I would be working clinical too.

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Specializes in Perinatal, Education.

When I was in nursing school, some of my instructors took on travel assignments or worked registry during holidays and summer. This kept them current and solvent!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, GI, Education.

I am a Nurse Educator in a hospital. Many faculty come here with students without doing any preparation at all. They are unfamiliar with the policies and equipment and act like they know how to deliver care better than the staff. They do not even view the yearly fire/safety, or any other mandatory training the hospital staff receive yearly. They do not have time when here with students. It is fine to not work in a clinical setting, but at least do your homework before you bring students into a clinical setting. We offer staff updates every year, and they are poorly attneded. I was called at 8am with a request to inservice students on equipment, when I asked what day they will be coming in the instructor said "we are here right now, 9am will work well". Not only is this rude, and sometimes not possible, but in this case I was able to pull it off, and the instructor didn't even pay attention! Next time she came, I told her to teach her students herself, since I taught her 8 weeks ago. I had a LPN instructor tell a staff LPN to watch her student hang an IV med, since the instructor could not use the pump! (Staff refused) So, if this is behavior typical of faculty, then yes they should work a few shifts a month so they know what the heck they are doing when they are here!

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