Introduction
Following an interview held with Katherine Rick on March 22, 2021, at 14:00, it was apparent that she assists in mentoring nursing students pursuing either the associate nursing program or the bachelor’s degree program. Hollywood Medical Center serves a considerable number of nursing students undertaking their practicums from various nursing institutions. Besides, Katherine educates student nurses serving as externs, the newly graduated nurses, and practice nurses with novice experience. Despite nursing education being her primary focus, she offers education and mentorship to the recently posted certified post-anesthesia nurses (CPAN’s).
What the Nurse Educator Teaches and Where
Katherine Rick educates nurses in all nursing professional cadres regarding clinical education at Hollywood Medical Center. For over seven years, she has served as a clinical educator at a healthcare facility. Katherine places the newly graduated nurses in a 16-week cohort for a well-scheduled mentorship and teaching program. The initial three weeks are critical for the new graduate nurses because they are provided with a variety of clinical education concepts. Further, they are guided on using the already installed computer system, including the adoption and the utilization of the computerized physician order entry (CPOE), a part of the Electronic Health Records (EHR). The newly enrolled nurses form partnerships to collaborate with nurses in various units, respiratory therapists, physiotherapists, and certified post-anesthesia nurses. As a result, it enables the new nurses to gain insight and ask queries concerning the different nurses’ roles in every position within the health care facility.
Rick also plays a role in the orientation process among nurses serving as nurse externs for Hollywood Medical Center practicums. The responsibility is essential considering that such students are ongoing with their nursing programs in their respective nursing institutions, and they require guidance and mentorship. They then receive relevant clinical experience in their desired specialties that are key for their graduation, passing the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), and obtaining licensure. Following the passing of the NCLEX, such nurses are offered job opportunities in the respective specialties earlier externed on during learning. After the hiring process, a new nurse is placed in the 16-week cohort as a recent graduate meant to prepare them to become autonomous in the clinical practice settings.
Regarding those nurses with some expertise, depending on the level of experience in their respective units, Katherine steers the three to seven-week orientation. Regardless of the prior experience nurses have, they are all provided with new orientation pamphlets relevant to each specialization area. For instance, a newly hired nurse working in a perioperative unit would receive a new hire pamphlet for theatre. As a result, continuous education for quality improvement of on-floor practice is maintained.
Trends and Changes in Nursing Education
Katherine asserted that nursing education’s current trends had been primarily influenced by the ever-evolving technological advancements and a shift from curative to preventive care. With the advances in technology, the safety of healthcare outcomes for patients has improved. Despite being associated with working in healthcare settings, Katherine indicated that she strives to deliver continued education to individuals and patients in the community regarding their illnesses and the prevention of diseases. She further explained how Hollywood Medical Center has taken strides in assisting match patients and families with healthcare practitioners, such as Family Nurse Practitioners (FNP’s). As per Katherine’s report, the facility, now, has a well-secured computer system to protect patient data thus improving patient data privacy and secure storage. In 2016, Hollywood Medical Center faced controversy regarding a hijack by ransomware and the subsequent loss incurred in paying the ransom (Dobuzinskis & Finkle, 2016). Regarding the issue, she takes part in educating healthcare providers on ensuring they don’t share passwords or patient information with unauthorized personnel who can infringe and hack the computer systems.
A Reflection Comparing the Interview Data to Class Readings
With a spike in enrollment into master’s programs, there is increased shifting of programs from functional specialization, which involves being administrators and educators, to clinical specialization. From class readings, clinical specialization has facilitated the sprout in applying nursing education to improve care (Thomas et al., 2019). In this case, Katherine is a Clinical Educator in Hollywood Medical Center. Serving in her position is critical in improving nurses’ knowledge and evidence-based practice skills in the health facility, thus improving patient care quality. Besides, reviewed literature in class indicates that a compelling force facilitating change and development in curricula is necessary to increase student-led collaboration within the nursing discipline and across the interprofessional disciplines (van Diggele et al., 2021). In this case, Katherine ensures that every nurse undergoes relevant education and mentorship to understand what each domain entails in the hospital; hence staff can partner and collaborate to work as a team for healthcare excellence.
Lessons Learnt as a Result of the Assignment
I was able to gain insight that there exist, different nurse educators, all with other capabilities but they offer nursing students opportunities to excel in their nursing profession. From my perspective, meeting with Katherine expanded my depth of knowledge, and I feel I will be a much better Clinical Educator than one who educates in nursing institutions. I am more of a hands-on nurse educator and will be fascinated to inform the newly incoming nurses interested in pursuing their careers in the nursing profession.
Conclusion
Being a nurse educator entails developing a curriculum, teaching, and ensuring that novice nurses learn from clinical experiences. The interview with Katherine has increased my knowledge that earning such a title requires adequate time with patients and students. Also, I have learned that a nurse educator ought to employ an open-door policy to accommodate and address nurses’ concerns and questions. Despite nervously thinking that many nurses would depend on me for education, it remains exhilarating that I improve my continuous education during the process. Subsequently, I will be effectively capable of educating future nurses.
References
Dobuzinskis, A., & Finkle, J. (2016). California hospital makes rare admission of the hack, ransom payment. Reuters. Web.
Thomas, C. D., DiSabatino, L., & Rojas, F. (2019). The effects of education and clinical specialization on nurses’ status affirmation by physicians: A quantitative analysis. Journal of interprofessional care, 33(2), 252-263. Web.
van Diggele, C., Roberts, C., & Haq, I. (2021). Optimizing student-led interprofessional learning across eleven health disciplines. BMC Medical Education, 21(1), 1-18. Web.