Role of the Nurse Educator in the 21st Century Learning Environment

 

Nursing education appears to be headed in a different direction than in the past. Various changes in the healthcare system and the advent of technology, demands that the nursing curriculum be updated in order to adapt to these changes and to adequately educate students to succeed in the nursing profession. As nursing education becomes more diverse in approaches to learning, additional pressure and demands are exerted on academic faculty and clinicians to positively adopt and integrate new technological methods into their teaching portfolios. Nurse educators at times may encounter some challenges in meeting the demands that come with educating a diverse class of students.   

Challenges Nursing Educators Face in the 21st Century

One significant development in nursing education today is a shift in student and educator role. Students are more actively engaged in their own learning and the teacher is more of a facilitator than a lecturer. The lecturer is responsible for implementing student-centered teaching practice, and students are held accountable for coming to class prepared and ready to participate in class activities. The educator must utilize a variety of teaching methods or strategies to cater to the diversity of learning styles of all students.  

Secondly, rapid technological change continues to be a difficult issue for curriculum development procedures. Most nurse educators, who are much older and are unable to quickly adjust to the rapid technology dynamics, may be unable to align the curriculum with the tech-savvy students. As a result, new technology has not been implemented adequately in the learning environment. This situation can potentially result in a mismatch between the nurse graduate and the professional requirements, as the healthcare system is embracing Electronic Health Record systems. 

By educators integrating existing and emerging technological tools into their teaching methods, they can help students to develop essential 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and information literacy. In fact, teachers and students become collaborators in learning as technology evolves. Pedagogical technology is constantly introducing new models and resources to expand linear, text-based learning and engage students with a variety of learning preferences and experiences.

 As technology continues to evolve, however, educators who wish to integrate it must acquire updated competencies and learning strategies. Furthermore, rather than depending mainly on exams to assess students learning, a greater emphasis can be placed on adopting additional evaluation tools that will supplement exams. These strategies will be used for formative and summative evaluation, measuring learning to new depths. 

Finally, it can be difficult for nurse educators to work with students from varied cultural backgrounds. Some measures can be used to effectively assist multicultural students in avoiding cultural alienation. One measure that educators can implement is having guest lecturers from diverse cultures to provide insight into the various healthcare perspectives. This approach creates a feeling of respect for minority groups. Additionally, nurse educators can employ gaming, simulation, and role play as techniques to increase student participation, particularly minority groups.  It also promotes understanding of cultural diversity among the students. Incorporating cultural information can improve learning and fostering discussion about cultural differences. Researchers confirm that students get interested when discussing their cultural heritage, which other students are curious about.  

Effectively Addressing Challenges in the Learning Environment

Understanding learners is an important component of quality teaching. Nurse educators need an understanding of the varied attributes of nursing students, which can affect their learning process and outcomes. Students' culture and ethnicity, their learning style preferences, age, gender, motivation, and abilities are characteristics that can influence their learning and teaching approaches. 

Having an understanding of their students, the teacher then identifies the objectives and criteria for the learning module. This statement describes what the learners will be able to perform as a result of the training. The SMART technique, a form of objective setting, can be used to set objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. This means that the teacher should be able to predict exactly what skills and knowledge the learners will acquire during a certain period. Furthermore, students should be aware of the objectives and what they are expected to learn.

Next, the instruction methods that will be used to deliver the content should be decided. This phase includes planning the lesson ensuring that the information gathered from the analysis of students is considered to guide the way the content will be delivered to them.  For example, adult students have numerous attributes that are quite different from younger students. The main attributes of adult learning encompass purposeful, goal-oriented activities. Adult students get actively involved in the learning process as opposed to pedagogical involvement that is passive.

Additionally, if lessons are more instructor-led, choosing lectures, presentations, and other demonstrations are ideal options. On the other hand, if they are more learner-centered, the teacher should opt for group discussions and group activities. Once that is figured out, the teacher must choose the technology that will facilitate the teaching method.

It is then time to think about how to use the methods. More precisely, the technology and other materials should be reviewed and prepared to ensure that they will work smoothly during the lectures. Instructors should also determine how to actively engage learners in the teaching process.  For instance, the teacher can establish mandatory participation in class discussions or ask them to guide the lesson themselves by asking questions or presenting themes for further analysis. 

In this final step, the teacher has to decide whether your material is effective and make revisions if necessary. Evaluation of teaching strategies, the media, the technology used, and how they were implemented. Also, you should determine if the lessons and learners met the objectives and if the overall experience catered to their individual needs. Feedback from your learners is important in this step to help you with your analysis. Students can be given surveys on how the lesson has impacted them, whether they are satisfied with the experience, and if they have achieved their personal goals.  Feedback should also be given on their performance. 

The nurse educator also has the role of developing a supportive learning environment along with the use of various teaching methods as previously mentioned. Teaching takes place in formal and informal settings as part of personal and professional roles. A teacher may be working alongside a student caring for a patient in a health setting, organizing group work in a classroom, facilitating a reflection session after a high-fidelity simulation, leading a discussion via webinar, or responding to learners asynchronously. Innovations such as distance technologies provide more flexible options for both learners and teachers. Encouraging a positive class climate and respectful interactions among peers promotes the development of an effective environment for learning.

Reference

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