Teaching Goals
Nursing has come a long way. And, the science of nursing is a science of caring. Nursing is more than earning a living. It is in fact more than a career. It is a passion that only those who are passionate about caring for others could stand the test of its time. In my many years of practicing nursing, I have seen many young people change career from nursing to other profession mostly because they are misinformed. My ultimate goal as a nurse educator is to help shape the future of nursing education, one student at a time by ensuring that learners are well-informed and up to date on the nursing technology and expertly prepared for the practice and advancement in nursing.
To accomplish my teaching goals, I will create an empowering learning environment for my students. This will be an environment where my students will be confident in expressing themselves in their own unique way. Nursing care in the 21st century is different than in the early centuries, therefore, helping my students to be comfortable in their styles of care will help them to evolve their own nursing identity into the future and in doing so elevate the profession to another dimension of care.
The other aspect of my teaching goal is to instill integrity within my learners. While nursing could be very rewarding, a sense of integrity is much more rewarding. A person of integrity will always do the right thing by another regardless of whether there is a physical reward or not. A person of integrity will portray the best aspect of human endeavors and are always apt to do the right thing. Being a person of integrity means to be solid, principled, true to very best self. It means to walk the talk by living up to highest ethical values. Always trying to do the right thing even in tough situations, and not letting temptation compromise values. A person of integrity is apt to treat others with dignity and respect. In our society, people are frequently advised, especially in childhood, to treat others with respect and dignity. Charity, they say, begins at home. As a teacher, I must uphold dignity and respect right from the classroom for all to see and emulate.
My other teaching goal is safety. I want to inculcate the culture of safety in my learner’s minds. Safety in nursing education cannot be overemphasized and cannot be compromised. Much like in every other profession, nursing care environment must be safe to protect everyone. Nurses must be aware of their environment as well as the population they serve to ensure proper safety and care. I encourage my students to be an advocate as needed. For example, post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) patients require dignity and respect and knowing how to manage the care for patients with PTSD requires knowledge of the issue. To that effect, I provide brief S.A.V.E.(S-know the Signs, A-Ask the question, F-Validate-Encourage and Expedite) training in all my classes to a lesser degree. In addition, I refer my learners to the S.A.V.E. online suicide prevention training video which provides online education and support to those who work, live, or care for Service members, Veterans, and military and Veteran families. S.A.V.E. offers simple steps that anyone can take when talking with Veterans who are at risk for suicide.
Nursing profession is not always visibly rewarding but cumulatively so. Therefore, as my other goal, I will advocate determination and passion in nursing care. In fact, nursing reward may come where one least expect it and not where one hope to get it. I plan to really encourage a sense of determination in my teaching for the learners to know the values and traits they need to have in their pursuits of greatness. I want to teach my learners how to think and not just commit to mind what is written in the book and on the board. I also challenge them to grapple with perspectives that may be vastly different from their own. Rather than being passive consumers, I want my learners to be able to identify which stories aren’t being told and why.
I will also encourage my students to be proactive and be a role model when it comes to demonstrating evidence-based practice(EBP). Nurses play important role in the prevention of illness by taking certain precautionary measures such as handwashing (Standard Precaution), which has been proven through research that it is the simplest, easiest and safest way to prevent infection. So, I always wash hands before and after a procedure, and encourage my learners to do the same. I tell them that the habit of handwashing before and after procedure becomes a routine if it is done constantly. Adhering to evidence-based infection control policies includes keeping the environment clean, wearing personal protective clothing, using barrier precautions and practicing correct handwashing. Rather than simply parroting whatever they think I want to hear, I challenge them to make their own determinations, but ones that are both informed by an awareness of history and culture as well as supported by evidence and explanation.
While all of the mentioned teaching goals will not solve all of the nursing issues in nursing education and practice, one has to agree that when carefully implemented, all of these goals will go a long way to improve the ways nursing is practiced.