Preparing for the transition from clinical practice to academia

Abstract

Although education is an essential component of good nursing practice, clinical practice proficiency does not equate to competence in academia. Expert clinicians are not automatically expert educators. However, more and more academic institutions are relying on full-time clinicians to assume academic teaching positions. The decision to transition from clinical practice to academia requires careful consideration of numerous personal and professional issues. The purpose of this brief overview is to offer insight and guidance for nursing professionals embarking on this journey.

Strategies Adopted by Novice Nurse Educators to Facilitate Their Transition From Practice to Academia: A Qualitative Study in Ghana

“…Therefore, we recommend that administrators of NTCs should create and implement faculty mentorship programmes to mentor NNEs. College authorities can also adopt and modify already existing faculty mentoring models from other countries such as South Africa (Seekoe, 2014) and Australia (Slatyer & Kimberley, 2017) to help facilitate the transition process.…”

“…For the nursing profession to be successful, competent educators are required in academia, and the successful transition of nurses from clinical practice to academia is critical to this agenda (Spencer, 2013). Many nurses with expertise in the clinical area are being recruited for faculty positions, however, for these clinicians to become expert teachers require strategies that will foster pedagogical development because clinical competence does not automatically translate into teaching expertise in the academic setting (Smith et al, 2019; Spencer, 2013). Many nurses who leave the hospital setting, where they are skilled clinicians, to teach in the academic setting often find the transition challenging (Legare & Armstrong, 2017; McFadden & Sims, 2017; Parris & Moss, 2016).…”

Exploring the reasons for novice nurse educators’ transition from practice to academia in Ghana

“…Hence, they decided to transition to academia because of the perceived work role flexibility associated with the nurse educator role. However, this finding has an implication for the recruitment and retention of committed nurse educators because, despite the illusion of shorter days, flexibility, and freedom to enjoy weekends and holidays, academia actually requires a significant time commitment [ 7 ] and NNEs may enter into a state of transition shock upon realization of this reality.…”

“…Making a transition from clinical nursing practice to academic nursing implies making a counterintuitive coming back to a beginner from proficient because having high proficiency in clinical nursing practice does not guarantee proficiency in the nursing academic role; therefore, taking the decision to transition from bedside to classroom requires cautious consideration of many private and professional factors [ 7 ]. The choice to pursue a role in academic nursing must prompt the clinical nurse to take a personal account and evaluate one’s personal desired place of work and set of skills [ 8 ].…”

Easing the transition from nurse clinician to nurse educator in Ghana: Exploring novice nurse educators' perspectives

“…Considering the complexity of the nurse educator role, experienced nurse clinicians who choose to transition to the novice nurse educator (NNE) role ought to be adequately prepared with the requisite pedagogical knowledge, attitudes and skills to make the transition easier and successful (Booth et al, 2016 ; Marfell et al, 2017 ; Smith et al, 2019 ). However, international studies have revealed that not all NNEs recruited into Health Training Institutions (HTIs) are adequately prepared and they often struggle to transition into their new educator role (Brown & Sorrell, 2017 ; Cooley & De Gagne, 2016 ; Grassley & Lambe, 2015 ; Miner, 2019 ).…”