Is Tenure off Track?

This week we spent time in our group discussion examining the role of the teacher in health disciplines. It was interesting to examine the role that tenure plays in academic institutions teaching faculty. While tenure is shown to be an important element in ensuring academic freedom for teachers, it really made me wonder about the difficulty in combing the need to research with the time needed to develop teaching skills. Universities mission, vision, and values statement frequently include a research focused theme. Is the scholarship of teaching lost in the drive to publish high quality research in order to obtain tenure?

Interestingly, some recent research shows that teachers with balanced workloads and a focus on ‘teaching only’ versus ‘specialized research’ positions where some of the factors that contributed to workplace satisfaction and positively motivated teachers (Watt & Richardson, 2020). As the focus of my masters degree has been teaching, I have learned so much about the knowledge and skills that are required to be a quality teacher. Much like nursing, developing teaching skills is a lifelong process that requires time and attention. On top of maintaining a work and life balance, I can't imaging how difficult it would be to develop research while learning to teach.

While the intention of my career path has always been to remain in the hospital setting, this learning has taught me something important about considering my options for future positions. If I were to consider teaching in a university understanding the expectations for research and teaching would be an important consideration. How would I balance these expectations with my home life? What sort of support does the institution provide in order to achieve these expectations. Would I want to consider tenure focused paths?

Reference

Watt, H. M. G., & Richardson, P. W. (2020). Motivation of higher education faculty: (How) it matters! International Journal of Educational Research, 100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101533

Ethics in Teaching

The effects of ethical teaching on transition shock and trust building in newly graduated nurses

This weeks class discussion was a new topic for me. While I have experienced, learned about, and practiced with many ethical issues in nursing, I had never really stopped to consider the specific ethical issues of teachers and students.

I spent some time reviewing the reading presented by the class. Of specific interest I found the article by Albert, Younas, & Sana (2020) relevant to both my learning and my current clinical practice. I found many of the ethical considerations for students in this article directly apply to my practice as an educator of newly graduated nurses. Identifying the existence of these ethical issues in practice with newly graduated nurses and helping them to resolve the internal conflict that is created as their knowledge of ethics tells them something is wrong, is a role that I can fill as a clinical educator. Being aware of how these ethical issues effect the entry to practice nurse is important in my role. By identifying and helping to find solutions to these issues I can help new nurses adjust to the transition shock they can experience.

The framework for ethical case analysis provided in this weeks learning is an excellent resource to guide my practice in ethical decision making with learnings. Particularly it gave me insight into ensuring that the whole story has been told when it comes to ethical dilemma's in the clinical setting with learners. Compiling information and ensuring that all participants voices are heard are essential steps in making ethical decisions with learners (Warnick & Silverman, 2011). I believe that ensuring all voices are heard when ethical dilemmas arrive would also benefit building trust and respect with new nurses through demonstrating authentic leadership.

As a teacher of newly graduated nurses, incorporating ethical decision making practices with learners will not only facilitate providing the best patient care possible, but would be a protective factor against transition shock and facilitate building trust with new staff through demonstrating authentic leadership.

References

Albert, J. S., Younas, A., & Sana, S. (2020). Nursing students’ ethical dilemmas regarding patient care: An integrative review. Nurse Education Today, 88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2020.104389

Warnick, B. R., & Silverman, S. K. (2011). A framework for professional ethics courses in teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 62(3), 273–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487110398002

Interprofessional Education - Well Recognized but Poorly Implemented?

After summarizing our group led discussion this week, one key theme I focused on was the use of interprofessional educatioin (IPE) in nursing academia. It is easy to understand the benefits of IPE, learning with other disciplines as students, developing communication skills, and learning to understand the roles that other disciplines play in healthcare. IPE is a preamble for the important interprofessional practice (IPP) settings that are more and more important in healthcare today.

Consensus from our class discussion identified that we all see the benefits, but very few could speak to experience in a true IPE class. One class mate conveyed how IPE was being built into their nursing curriculum, but hadn't yet been implemented. As identified in our learning this week, some of the biggest obstacles to creating curriculum using IPE are coordinating different students schedules and having faculty that are prepared and willing to participate in interfaculty course design. Perhaps one of the benefits of this class will be preparing a whole future group of nursing educators to work towards universally adapting IPE in academic curricula.