Clinical Teaching - Reflection

Teaching in clinical settings presents nurse educators with challenges that are different from those encountered in the classroom. In nursing education, the classroom and clinical environments are linked because students must apply in clinical practice what they have learned in the classroom. However, clinical settings require different approaches to teaching. The clinical environment is complex and rapidly changing, and a transformed health care delivery system has produced a variety of new settings and roles in which nurses must be prepared to practice.




This Portfolio contains teaching ideas collected from my predecessors and peers to help us work with students in different areas of Nursing.

Whether we have been teaching for many years or are completely new to the experience, we know that effective teaching takes skill and practice. Try to remember some of our own teachers, the ones who truly made a difference in our life. What was it about them that influenced our learning experiences and our career decisions? Some of these teachers may have been mentors or role models. If so, we might have based some of our earliest career decisions not only on what they taught us but also on how they taught us. As educators, we can have an influence on our students that will remain with them for years to come.

Let us assure you that teaching is a superb way to learn. We will discover that explaining, demonstrating and critiquing effectively reinforces your own knowledge.

For all of us teaching takes time, an admittedly precious resource. Adequate planning and supervision will minimize our teaching load and work to address the demands of practice management. Remember too, there are ways that students can free-up some of our time.

We may be asking, "but what about 'using' my patients?" Typically, our patients enjoy the extra attention given to them by students and are amazingly tolerant of learners. An introduction to the student nurse, along with the reassurance that you will still be seeing them during their visit, usually works to allay apprehension.

As family nurse educators our main responsibility is to teach our students sound nursing practices in the different settings. At the same time, we may be viewed by students as role models, presenting family nursing as a challenging career option. Our clinical experience has been well received primarily because of the commitment, skill and enthusiasm shown by our teachers.

We hope we will enjoy working with the students who rotate through our facility. We are confident that this will be a worthwhile experience for us and for the students who will benefit from our profession.