Teaching Nurses To Teach: A Good Investment For All
Beth Ulrich, EdD, RN, CHE, FAAN, Editor

The first article that I ever had published was called “Teaching the Teachers to Teach.” Although that article was written over 20 years ago, the problem it discussed still persists. At the core of the article was the concept that, despite the fact that a major responsibility of nurses is to teach patients and family members, nurses are rarely taught how to teach.

Teaching Is An Art and A Science
There was - and still seems to be - a misconception that the ability to teach is either innate in all nurses or that it is conferred with the license. Neither is true. Teaching is an art and science just like nursing. There are competencies to be mastered and theories to be learned before one is ready to teach.

Not all topics can be taught the same way. Some lend themselves to lecture and discussion, while others require a hands-on approach, especially in the area of health care.

Neither can all learners be taught the same way. Children learn differently than adults. Young adults learn differently than older adults. Members of Generation X and the Millennial Generation, who were exposed to educational television and computers since birth, have even been shown to process information differently than members of previous generations. In teaching, there is no “one size fits all.”

Like nursing, teaching also requires focused practice in order to attain mastery. And, to be successful, the practice must occur under the guidance of expert teachers so that correct techniques can be reinforced and incorrect techniques can be corrected.

Teaching Each Other
Just as nurses do not innately know how to teach patients and family members, they also do not automatically know how to teach each other or the other health professionals with whom they work. This presents a particular problem in nephrology where nurses and technicians are almost all on-the-job trained. ANNA has encouraged and supported the inclusion of nephrology-specific content in nursing school curriculums as well as the creation of nephrology nursing externships and internships, but there is still much work to be done for a critical mass to be reached. Until that occurs, the majority of education and training of nephrology nurses and other nephrology personnel will occur in their work units after they are hired. But who will do the teaching?

In this issue of the Nephrology Nursing Journal, Chris Singer describes one model of preparing nurses to teach others. It is a preceptor training model. In the article, Chris details the components of a successful model and presents a case study to illustrate the process.

Investing In Preceptors and Training Isn’t Just A Nice Thing To Do
Providing preceptors requires an organizational commitment, but the return on the investment for that commitment is high. The preceptors must be trained and then must be given time to do the precepting. There must also be a commitment to give new employees the time they need to learn. Organizations that make these commitments and follow through on them have been shown to have better recruitment and retention, higher levels of professional development, and increased nursing leadership capabilities. New employees who have consistent preceptors learn faster and gain confidence quicker, both of which lead to increased productivity and decreased liability for the organization.

Unfortunately, in today’s healthcare environments, what organizations commit to isn’t always what gets delivered. The census goes up, the acuity rises, people call in sick, the budget doesn’t get met – all have been used as excuses to shorten the training of preceptors or shorten the orientation and training of new employees. Such excuses and decisions are shortsighted. Investing in preceptors and the education and training of new employees isn’t just a nice thing to do; it is one of the best long-term investments that organizations can make.

Beth Ulrich, EdD, RN, CHE, FAAN
Editor
E-mail: BethUlrich@aol.com