In touch to teach: Do nurse educators need to maintain or possess recent clinical practice to facilitate student learning?

Abstract

In recent years UK university-based nurse educators have seen a reduction in their responsibilities for nursing students' practice-based assessments. Many university-based nurse educators feel that this lack of input into students' clinical assessments leaves them open to criticism as they are perceived to be less "in-touch" with clinical practice and that their knowledge to teach nursing students is diminished as a result. This paper examines and debates some interpretations of the term "recent clinical practice" and challenges the misconception among many in the profession, as well as government and professional bodies, that university-based nurse educators require recent clinical practice to effectively teach students and enhance the student learning experience in the academic university setting.

Nurse educators must demonstrate care, competence and integrity to enhance students’ trust in them

“…Much of the previous literature in this area focuses on specific academic characteristics. For example, there has been much debate surrounding the concept of clinical credibility in nurse educators, with some authors arguing that this is a critical prerequisite for teaching student nurses, while others suggest that teaching competence can be more valued and valuable than recent exposure to clinical practice 4. In other papers, functional factors such as consistency in academic supervision are viewed as critical,5 while other papers identify the importance of specific characteristics in nurse educators, such as empathy 6…”

Clinical Placement: Experiences, School and Hospital-based Gaps and Challenges of Undergraduate Nursing Students of the University of Cape Coast

“…There is the need for institution and hospital-based partnership approach for clinical teaching to enhance readiness of nursing graduates to work after schooling (Patterson, Boyd & Mnatzaganian, 2017). University nursing lecturers, clinical instructors and clinical preceptors need to continue to give practical teaching support to students and to clinical nursing staff involved in clinical practice teaching (Leonard, McCutcheon & Rogers, 2016). Grealish and Smale (2011) claim that there is greater chance of nursing students having positive learning experiences during clinical placement if there is an effective collaboration between all stakeholders in nursing education.…”

La pénurie de professeures de sciences infirmières au Canada et ses effets sur les programmes de formation en sciences infirmières offerts en français

“…Toutefois, les écrits qui portent sur le meilleur type de professeure pour former les futures infirmières sont contradictoires (formation doctorale/post-doctorale ou expertise clinique). Certains auteurs soulignent que l'expertise clinique des professeures en sciences infirmières est nécessaire à la formation efficace des futures infirmières (Halcomb et coll., 2010 ;Leonard, Mc Cutcheon et Rogers, 2016). D'autres soutiennent qu'un doctorat est le niveau de préparation nécessaire pour occuper un poste d'enseignement universitaire (Jackson et coll., 2011).…”