Reality Shock in the Nurse Educator

Transition Into Practice for Nursing Professional Development Specialists

“…Within this model, barriers to making a successful transition include role ambiguity related to the absence of structure and mentorship, as well as inadequate orientation and socialization. Locasto and Kochanek (1989) applied Marlene Kramer’s phases of reality shock to the educator role transition and suggested ways to ease this transition, such as developing a one-on-one mentor relationship and reinforcing realistic expectations for the new nurse educator. In addition, findings from Ramsburg and Childress’s (2012) attempt to design a model based on the Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition and the National League for Nursing Core Competencies for Nurse Educators suggest that “…nurse educators have a high level of confidence in their level of skill acquisition but may benefit from mentoring and experience in areas associated with leadership, change, scholarship, and continuous quality improvement in the nurse educator role.” Although much of the literature has focused on the transition to the academic educator role, Fritz (2018) found similar barriers to transition within the acute care setting for NPD practitioners.…”

Clinical Adjunct Nursing Faculty Virtual Mentoring Experience:A Qualitative Study

“…During these stages, the new educator runs the risk of "becoming a doer rather than a teacher" 14 (p. 80). The authors stated that the new nurse educator, without the right training and guidance, may become overwhelmed, take too much work home, and eventually long to return to the bedside 14 .…”