Nurse Educator Roles

Nurse educators combine theri clinical abilities with responsibilites related to

• Designing curricula
• Developing courses/progress of study
• Teaching adn guiding learners
• Evaluating learning
• Documenting the outcomes of the educatinoal process

Nurse educators also help students and practicing nruses identify their learning needs, strengths and limitations, and they select learning opportunities that will build on strengths and overcome llimitations. In addition to teaching, nurse educators who work in academic settings have responsibilities consistent with faculty in other disciplines, including:

• Advising students
• Engaging in scolarly work (research)
• Participating in professional associations
• Speaking/presenting at nursin confreences
• Contributing to the academic community through leadership roles
• Engaging in peer review
• Maintaining clinical competence
• Writing grant proposals

A growing number of nurse educators teach part-time while working in a clinical setting. THis gives them the opportunity to maintain a high degree of clinical competence while sharing their expertise with novice nurses. Nurse educators who work in practice settings assess the abilities of nurses in practice and collaborate with them and their nurse managers to design learning experiences that will continually strengthen those abilities.

Nurses for a Healthier Tomorrow, http://www.nurseource.org/nurse_educator.html