Discussion Response: Advancement as a Nurse Educator

Respond to the discussion #1 below using the following approaches:

1. Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information or research.

2. Share an insight from having read your colleagues' postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.

3. Validate an idea with your own experience and additional resources.

Discussion #1

Having chosen nursing education as my professional pathway, I hope to obtain professional achievement and contributions. Contributions that I hope to make as a role of the nurse educator would be helping to empower and positively impact the student with whom I work. I want to maintain a professional yet approachable attitude with my students and hope that my expertise will influence a positive social change. Achieving professional growth can only come with time, exposure and practice.

A novice educator can only observe these areas initially and hope to apply learned information in future experiences. The nursing profession will always be an area of evidence-based change in society; therefore considering opportunities to help influence build and advance ones role and aid in the development as a nurse educator is imperative. Halstead states that "You cannot achieve excellence in teaching or practice or both without immersing yourself in scholarly evidence and using the evidence to inform actions you take as a teacher or practitioner" (p.121). To be a scholar there are many ways to achieve this goal but utilizing research to obtain evidence-based material to help compliment educational experiences will support the intended outcome.

As mentioned in prior discussion boards, taking the time to identify those who empower and impact novice educator is important to our long term success. A strategy I would take would be to identify the key players who support and motivate others in similar working environments. Once identified, I would then capitalize on their strengths, observe their weaknesses and apply the positive learned information when educating future students.

Steps that I may take the further my career and continue to grow in the years ahead include obtaining advanced degrees including my doctorate. Becoming a scholar and publish materials that influence the medical world and participating in the development of programs of new research is something I hope to accomplish. In addition, building on certifications including the International Board of Lactation Consultants Examiners (IBLCE) will help support my own education and utilizing that advanced knowledge when educating future patients/students. I would hope that the presenter honoring my accomplishments in 2035 would describe me as a change agent who is positive, motivated, organized and strives to make changes in the world of nursing.

My students would describe me as approachable, professional, respectable, and a mentor for their future endeavors. Palmer (2007) states "an educational program that emerges from a continuing collaboration of administrators, faculty, and students is much more likely to produce new professionals than ones that leave students disempowered" (p.212). This statement impacted my reading in such that the job cannot be done by just one individual but that of a team that is cohesive in achieving a common goal. That goal is professional, self directed, motivated engaged participants in the medical field.

I hope my legacy in the profession of nursing reveals me as being a change agent exuding positivity and empowerment for those not only in the educational forum but in the medical arena as well.

Halstead, J.A., & Frank, B. (2011). Pathways to a nursing education career: Educating the next generation of nurses. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.

Palmer, P.J. (2007). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of the teacher's life. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Reminders:
1. 1 page only
1. Put APA format citations
2. At least 3 references (APA format)... Articles must be 2011 to 2016.