Faculty Interview

Changes are occurring in the health care arena today. With changes in legislation regarding health care regulation and the mandatory health care there is an increase in the already shortage of nurses. With the shortage of nurses come the requirements for an increased need for nursing educators. Responsibilities of the nurse educator extend beyond teaching the student.

Educators must shift the emphasis for the result of learning with retention of knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the role of a current nursing educator presently employed in a state college in Oklahoma. C. B. is currently an Associate Professor at Seminole State College (SSC) in Oklahoma. Her first position in teaching was as a registered nurse with an associate degree in nursing at a technology school as an educator for the school of practical nursing. She obtained a bachelor’s of science in nursing, was promoted to coordinator of the program. C. B. as obtained a master’s of science in nursing and has been employed at SSC for three years. SSC offers a cooperative alliance nursing program, a bridge program for licensed practical nurses to obtain an associate degree in nursing. SSC is a two-year college working in conjunction with two technological schools in the area to provide a bridge program from the technological school’s practical nursing program to the associate degree in nursing program. Today’s colleges and universities are faced with changing issues related to education and the health science program.

According to Billings and Halsted (2009), driving forces for the changes include “increasing multiculturalism of society, finite financial resources in education and health care, expanding technology and the accompanying knowledge explosion… and the increasing public demand for accountability of educational outcomes” (p. 3). Nursing programs must increase the demand for nurses by increasing the number of graduates. Fewer educators are available to teach the increasing number of nursing students.

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As full-time faculty leaves the institution, colleges and universities are forced to fill the positions with adjunct faculty because of budget constraints. “Many accrediting agencies require a percentage of full-time faculty and specific targets for faculty with terminal degrees in the disciplines in which they teach” (Stenerson, Blanchard, Fassiotto, Hernandez, & Muth, 2010, p. 25). Accreditation can also depend on the faculty responsibility for the university or colleges ability to “demonstrate faculty responsibility for the curriculum and faculty perspectives in the process of shared governance” (Ibid).

C. B. is assigned to the bridge program as the technology school where she was formerly employed is one of the practical nursing programs where she was the coordinator. She is familiar with the programs and is able to provide out of classroom support. C. B. is required to be a member of the committee where updating of the clinical classes occurs. Adjunct faculty who have been at the state college for more than a year are encouraged to participate in committees. Textbooks are decided on in the committee.

If the adjunct faculty prefers not to participate in the curricula committee meetings their input is welcome regarding the text selections and curricula planning. The adjunct faculty presently employed at SSC have clinical experience and are familiar with the clinical sites for the students. Full-time faculty is encouraged to obtain a PhD, although it is not required. Full-time educators are also assigned two to three adjunct faculty to mentor if the part-time faculty has been employed by the college for less than one year.

The associate professor is responsible, with the program director, in evaluating the adjunct nursing educators mentored. Whether full-time or an adjunct professor, each nurse educator has a responsibility to uphold the mission of the institution by mentoring, teaching critical thinking skills, being a positive role model, and practices ethical conduct. Nursing programs must be maintained to remain current. With informatics as a newer field in nursing, along with computers, and rapid changes in technology, practicing and teaching have changed.

Additional fields in health care include genomics, cloning, organ transplants, and a potential for pandemics, all which must be included in the nursing curricula in addition to the already existent fundamentals of nursing (Rosenkoetter& Mistead, 2010). In Seminole, Oklahoma the main three minorities include Native Americans, Latinos, and African-Americans. SSC is a multicultural college and the cultures are taken into account for the method s taught in the classes. Beliefs and customs are treated with respect nonjudgmentally.

Family nursing is addressed in the clinical classes as students are educating families and the patient on the final diagnosis. Community involvement is strongly recommended for full-time faculty and required of tenured professors. Tenured professors are required to participate in research committees. As classes are phased out tenured professors may have their position eliminated, although elimination of positions has not been an issue for SCC’s nursing program. Vacant positions arise as nursing educators acquire a PhD and move to a higher university. Today’s nurse educator has a difficult job.

The educator must take the responsibility of turning students into learners rather than the educator just teaching. Increased graduation rates is a must in the current nursing shortage that will extend for decades. The educator faces rapidly changing technology with the college or university’s limited budgets, larger student loads with a smaller faculty, multicultural classes, and different generations of students. C. B. ’s goal is to obtain her PhD eventually and transfer to a university.

References

1. Billings, D. M. , & Halsted, J. A. (2009). Teaching in Nursing: A Guide for Faculty (3rd ed. . Philadelphia, PA: W. B. Saunders.
2. Rosenkoetter, M. M. , Milstead, J. A. Nursing Ethics. Jan 2010, Vol. 17 Issue 1, p137-139. Retrieved from https://ehis. ebscohost. com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? vid=2&hid=124&sid=0bd9c94c-3d04-4761-9781-b7aa77ff8179%40sessionmgr14
3. Stenerson, J. , Blanchard, L. , Fassiotto, M. , Hernandez, M. , & Muth, A. (2010, Summer). The role of adjuncts in the professoriate. Peer Review, 12(3), 23-26. Retrieved from https://search. ebscohost. com/login. aspx? direct=true&db=ehh&AN=54710247&site=eds-livetf

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