Nurse Educator Roles, Cultural Competence, and Collaboration

Interview with a Nurse Educator

What would you consider your main role in the training of skilled professionals in the nursing realm — specifically in formal academic settings?

My main role is to equip nursing students with the relevant nursing skills. In doing so, I draw on not only my academic expertise but also my clinical experience. To effectively fulfill their mandate, future nurses must have their learning properly facilitated within the nursing program faculty. I consider myself a key stakeholder in the facilitation of that learning.

Why do you refer to yourself as a "stakeholder"?

Because I do not function alone. I work in close collaboration with others in this role.

What are some of the qualifications that someone should have to successfully serve in your role?

First and foremost, to be allowed to teach nursing curriculum in an institution of higher learning or a teaching hospital, you must hold an advanced nursing degree. Next, you must have the prerequisite experience as well as the necessary skill sets that make it possible for you to implement nursing education curriculum.

What are some of those skills?

Some of the skills I have found critical in this role include excellent communication abilities, strong leadership capabilities, the ability to help learners see the bigger picture, the ability to function well in team settings — given that this is a collaborative effort — and superior organizing and planning skills.

From research, I have gathered that in addition to facilitating student learning, academic nurse educators are also actively involved in leading change toward nursing education improvement. Could you please expound on this latter role?

Yes, that is actually very correct. As faculty members in nursing schools, we are also champions of change with regard to the further improvement of nursing curriculum. We have a key role to play in the transformation of education systems for posterity. This is a particularly important role because, as is the case in any other profession, nursing practice demands keep changing. We must be alive to this reality and align learning with these new demands in professional settings.

Could you please give an example of such a change?

Yes. Today, there is an increased need to ensure that nursing students are equipped with practical cultural competency skills. This is especially true given that the world has become a global village and clinical settings are increasingly reflective of that reality. Because nursing students are likely to encounter and interact with persons from diverse backgrounds, there is a need to ensure that nursing education curriculum integrates and evaluates cultural competency — particularly with regard to developing a better understanding of, and ability to handle, diversity.

What is the job outlook for the nurse educator role?

I am convinced that the role of nurse educator will be even more important in the future. Skilled nurses will continue to be in high demand across the world. As retired registered nurses exit the workforce, skilled personnel will be needed to fill the roles left vacant.

How is that a boom for nursing educators? It appears that the trend you just mentioned will largely favor those who would wish to go into active practice.

Who will be educating the additional nurses needed to avert shortage in the future? (Laughter.) We are going to need more skilled and competent teachers to ensure the supply of the next generation of skilled professionals. Further, more nurse educators will be needed to help in the continued development of the system in which nursing education takes place.

Nursing happens to be a collaborative role. Is this also the case for the nurse educator role?

Yes, very much so. My role as a nurse educator extends far beyond mere "teaching." I am also a scholar and collaborator. To succeed in this role, you have to work in close collaboration with others. In my role as a collaborator, I function alongside numerous other stakeholders to facilitate student learning, develop appropriate theoretical frameworks in education, and advance nursing research.

Could you give me a few examples of such stakeholders or persons you closely collaborate with?

Those I closely collaborate with include, but are not limited to, peers, program faculty and administrators, practicing nurses in various clinical and healthcare settings, and the students themselves.

Leadership and Change Within the Institution

The relevance of quality education cannot be overstated in efforts to assure the competence of the next generation of healthcare professionals. Without the relevant skills, capabilities, and knowledge, nurses cannot effectively execute their mandate in clinical settings — especially when it comes to the delivery of quality and safe patient care. Nurse educators are essential to the appropriate and adequate preparation of future nurses. As Ezzeddine (2017) notes, nursing educators ought to ensure that they "encourage students to develop the critical thinking skills essential in the nurse's ability to identify current or potential problems or risks that impact upon patient safety" (p. 47). In practice settings, nurse educators are, among other things, advocates for ongoing professional development. According to Utley (2010), in such settings, nurse educators actively foster "staff in their continual growth and development to improve care decisions by serving as role models for evidence-based decision making" (p. 112).

Within the parent institution, the nurse educator takes the lead in providing effective leadership. The nurse educator ensures the delivery of contemporary nursing education and participates in assessing how effectively the institution disseminates nursing education. The nurse educator also functions as a change agent, seeking to advance and encourage best practices by, among other things, helping to formulate procedures and policies meant to advance nursing competence.

Stakeholder Collaboration and Communication Strategies

A number of stakeholders are instrumental to the responsibilities and role of a nurse educator. As identified in the interview, these include peers, program faculty and administrators, practicing nurses in various clinical and healthcare settings, and the students themselves. Two particularly vital external stakeholders are practicing nurses in clinical and healthcare settings and professional associations such as the American Nurses Association (ANA). Professional organizations such as the ANA provide extensive opportunities for continuing education. The nurse educator must keep up with emerging trends and new knowledge in the field in order to build personal competence and pass on relevant information and skills to students. Practicing nurses in diverse clinical and healthcare settings, on the other hand, can offer valuable insights regarding the changes, adjustments, and inclusions that ought to be made to curriculum to ensure that learners are equipped with practical skills for success in real-life clinical settings. These perspectives can further reinforce the nurse educator's role as an educational advocate.

Various strategies can be deployed to promote communication with external stakeholders. These include publishing articles in nursing journals and attending seminars and workshops that bring together nurses from diverse practice settings. By contributing articles to nursing publications, the nurse educator invites varied perspectives from peers and promotes further discussion on issues of relevance to nursing education. Feedback gathered through this channel can be vital to the nurse educator's role and responsibilities. Attending seminars and workshops provides a more direct opportunity to communicate with peers and other professionals, facilitating the exchange of ideas and viewpoints on a wide range of issues relating to nursing education.

Cultural Competence as a Challenge in Nursing Education

The interview with the nurse educator identified two significant challenges in nursing: the need for culturally competent care and the shortage of nurses. This section focuses on the need for culturally competent care.

According to the nurse educator interviewed, there is a growing need to ensure that nursing students are equipped with cultural competency skills, owing to the fact that the world is increasingly becoming a global village — meaning that people from all walks of life now interact on a more consistent basis. Without cultural competence, nurses cannot perform effectively in practical settings. As Linda (2018) points out, cultural competence ought to be seen as the foundation of effective nurse-patient relationships. It therefore follows that the nurse educator must acquire essential cultural competence skills in order to equip nursing students accordingly, and must also advocate for the inclusion of cultural competency concepts in the nursing education curriculum.

It is important to note that, according to Linda (2018), "not all nursing educational practices are culturally competent" (p. 20), despite sufficient evidence of increased diversity in the U.S. population. This point is further advanced by Shin, Fine, and Chen (2016), who observe that the health needs of the increasingly diverse U.S. population will only be fully addressed if deliberate efforts are made to ensure that nurses are culturally competent. The authors note that strategies must be implemented to guarantee cultural competence education in nursing, including ensuring that nurse educators themselves are culturally competent. In their words, "having culturally competent nurse educators is crucial to preparing future nurses to meet the health needs of a diverse and multicultural United States population" (Shin, Fine, and Chen, 2016, p. 225). Furthermore, Kaihlanen, Hietapakka, and Heponiemi (2019) observe that patients have become more linguistically and culturally diverse than was the case several decades ago, and call for nursing education and training to reflect this reality. According to the authors, increasing the cultural awareness of nurses is instrumental in promoting nurse-patient engagement and communication — both of which are key features of quality healthcare.

References

Ezzeddine, S. H. (2017). Patient safety: Nursing education to practice. Journal of Perioperative & Critical Intensive Care Nursing, 3(2), 11–15.

Kaihlanen, A., Hietapakka, L., & Heponiemi, T. (2019). Increasing cultural awareness: Qualitative study of nurses' perceptions about cultural competence training. BMC Nursing, 18(38), 117–124.

Linda, S. (2018). A nurse educator's guide to cultural competence. Nursing Made Incredibly Easy, 16(2), 19–23.

Shin, C., Fine, J., & Chen, C. (2016). Culturally competent nurse educators in clinical teaching. Nursing Education Perspectives, 37(4), 224–226.

Utley, R. (2010). Theory and research for academic nurse educators: Application to practice. Jones & Bartlett Learning.