Nurse education in practice
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The need for post registration education for nurses practising at specialty level in critical care environments is widely acknowledged in nursing and educational literature. There is also clear consensus that the ultimate aim of educational preparation and practice development is to improve the delivery of nursing care to patients who are critically ill and provide support for their families. ⋯ This paper explores the relationships within teaching, learning and practice development in critical care nursing and questions the popular assumption that 'post graduate (Master's level) education fits all'. Discussion focuses on the successful development and implementation of graduate level education for critical care nurses in the South Island of New Zealand and how this development is challenging existing approaches to the provision and evaluation of formal critical care education in New Zealand.
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Effective questioning is one of the most important teaching techniques and plays a crucial role in creating an effective learning environment. Yet, in nurse education little has been written about this technique or its importance. Most literature refers to the need for lecturers to be skilled in questioning, but less is written about how to develop this essential technique. ⋯ Using questioning appropriately facilitates the learning process by requiring the student to participate in the process and to achieve higher comprehension skills by acquiring deep, elaborate understanding of the subject. To acquire and develop this skill, the lecturer is required to understand questioning, to select the tool appropriately and to use questions that are varied, planned, appropriate and humanely posed. The functions of questioning, types of questions and the key skills required for the effective use of this teaching strategy are outlined in this article.
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The preceptor model of clinical education uses nurses to fulfill the role of 'teacher' in a one-on-one relationship with students. The current nursing shortage, however, places increased demands on nurses and threatens their continuation in this role. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to gain a better understanding of the nurse preceptor's experience. ⋯ Engaging in the process described how nurses created learning opportunities for students by being a good role model and protecting students from negative experiences. "I love being a preceptor, but..." identified aspects of the precepting role that were difficult. Accepting the role, taking responsibility identified the different people involved in the complex precepting experience; the preceptor, nursing faculty, students, and the nurse manager that all had to work together if students were to have a good experience. Findings can be used to develop better support for preceptors as well as more structured and consistent orientation to the role.
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In this paper, I reflect on what can be learned by engaging in future thinking within our discipline, and what implications the results of that thinking may have for the development of nursing education. Recognizing the marvelous diversity of perspective within our discipline with regard to what will and ought to be our future mandate, it seems reasonable to search for some grounding in what might ensure that we enter that future wisely. ⋯ Although we have always recognized that they must nurse for today with an eye on tomorrow, it is inordinately difficult to come to some agreement on how we can best bridge that gap within our educational programs and strategies. Toward this end, I draw on lessons that can be drawn from our professional history as a rich and vibrant context to propose some key issues for that future theorizing.
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The first international conference to address the question Where's the patients' voice in health professional education? was held in Vancouver, Canada, from 3 to 5 November 2005. The 240 participants came from a variety of patient groups, including marginalized populations, lobby groups and patient-as-teachers programs. In addition there were health professional educators, researchers and students from schools of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, chiropractic, social work, psychology, law, and other related professions.