What does it take to be a nurse educator in New Zealand? What competencies are required of nurse educators to ensure the future nursing workforce is well prepared?

A casual conversation one day among several nurse educators broached the topic of the different approaches to practice among our peers. The educators agreed that examples of both best practice and unsafe practice co-existed in this area, as is unfortunately the case in many areas of health care. This led to an exploration of how nurse educators rote model nursing practice in their interactions with students, and developed into a further discussion about what competencies were required to be an effective nurse educator.

With nursing changing in the tight of improved technology and advances in communication, it is imperative nursing education addresses these changes in preparing student nurses for the workforce. Preparing students to practise as new graduates requires focused guidance from competent educators. It also requires nurse educators to work in dose collaboration with their clinical peers. But exactly what competencies are needed to be an effective nurse educator? In the interests of further examining the specifics of our rote in undergraduate nursing education, we decided to explore the topic further.

What of the nurse practising in education?

White the Nursing Council has outlined four domains of competence and specified criteria that must be achieved in those domains, (1) this document does not detail the rote of a registered nurse (RN) practising in tertiary education. Undertaking research is inherent in a nurse educator's role, so we decided that investigating the specific indicators of competence in nursing education would be one approach we could take. This information had the potential to further inform the practice of nurse educators, to provide guidelines for RNs considering the transition from clinical practice to education and, perhaps, for the development of an education-specific competency assessment tool. Following a literature review, we found there was little written on the concept of nurse educators rote modelling good nursing practice. It was also clear there are differing definitions and continuing debate about the terms "competence" and " competencies". (2)

However, one article did address the topic and reported a research project that validated a number of competencies that American nurse educators believed were essential in their role. (3) The list of 35 competencies was divided into "teacher role", "scholar rote" and "collaborator role", with detailed specific statements in each role area. With the kind permission of the authors, this survey was used in a small New Zealand pilot study conducted in one tertiary institution in 2006. The results of this study would suggest that the competencies identified by American nurse educators also reflected the rote of a nurse educator in New Zealand.

However, two modifications were made in response to the feedback received from the pilot study, one of which reflected the concept of cultural safety as a requirement in nursing practice in this country. (4) The structure of the survey was also altered to be more user-friendly. Using this revised form, a national survey of nurse educators teaching in undergraduate nursing programmes began last month. (See box below.)

Promoting understanding

We believe nurse educators need to be current in their practice and confident in their education of the potential nursing workforce. Clear indicators of the competencies required in this rote wilt inform practice and potentially improve consistency between institutions. It may also inform colleagues in clinical practice of the requirements and breadth of practice of nurse educators, potentially promoting understanding and improved collegiality within nursing generally.

SURVEY RESULTS DUE TO OCTOBER

Survey forms were sent in early April to around 300 nurse educators in 13 undergraduate schools of nursing throughout the country. Nurse educators were asked to have their responses back by April 30.

Study leader Judy Seccombe said the completed survey forms would be returned to an independent administrator. Responses wilt be anonymous, so neither school nor individuals could be identified. Demographic data may also provide interesting information about current undergraduate nurse educators, she said.

"We are hoping for a very good response rate. The data wilt be analysed using the statitstical package for the social sciences (SPSS) software, and thematic analysis will be used for suggested competencies and additional comments," Seccombe said.

Analysis of the results should be completed by October. When the results are clear, they will be communicated to the individual nursing schools.

"We believe the results have the potential to be used to develop an effective nurse educator orientation programme, to develop a performance assessment tool for nurse educators, and to provide information on the complexities and challenges of the nurse educator rote to our clinical colleagues," Seccombe said.

References

(1) Nursing Council of New Zealand. (2005) Competencies for the registered nurse scope of practice. Wellington: author.

(2) Cowan, D.T., Norman, I. & Coopamah, V.P. (2005) Competence in nursing practice: A controversial concept a focused literature review. Nursing Education Today; 25: 5, 355-362.

(3) Davis, D., Stullenbarger, E., Dearman, C., & Kelley, J.A. (2005) Proposed nurse educator competencies: development and validation of a model Nursing Outlook; 53: 4, 206-211.

(4) Richardson, F. & Carryer, J. (2005) Teaching cultural safety in a New Zealand nursing education programme. Journal of Nursing Education; 44: 5, 201-208.

Judy Seccombe, RN, MN (Dist), and Paul Hiscox, RN, MBA, are nurse educators, School of Nursing, Universal College of Learning, Palmerston North. Stacey Wilson, RN, MPhil, is a nurse educator, School of Nursing, Massey University, Palmerston North.