Teaching Philosophy 1

Teaching Philosophy

Raymonta T. Green

Kennesaw State University: WellStar School of Nursing

NURS 7712: Nurse Educator Role

Dr. Jane Brannan

October 10th, 2022

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To succeed at a goal, you must know why you are pursing that goal, and if you are pursing that

goal, you must always remember your “why”. My primary goal in becoming a nurse educator is so that I

can aide in bridging the medical gap in knowledge and promotion within the underserved community. My

second objective that goes along side my primary is being a face of representation for minorities in the

field of nursing. Those two goals together, create the objective of introducing, mentoring, and cultivating

potential nurses from underserved and underrepresented communities as they can go back and aid in the

societal change needed to make healthcare accessible, understandable, and fair across the board. My

aspiration for nursing came during my time served in the military. As I advanced and progressed

throughout my Army career, at each stop I made, I noticed the same issues of under representation, lack

of diversity, and lack of connection between patient and provider in the medical field as related to people

of color. Understanding the close relationships that nurses have with patients, led me to believe that

change could be made from the nursing position as it is the forefront of health care. For my future

students, my goals are for them to not only understand the science of nursing, but also the art of nursing

that relates to humanity. The role of the nurse is to not perch ourselves upon a pedestal, but to use the

knowledge and connect while progressing humanity towards a healthier future. I want my potential

students to be diverse in their approach of care, diverse in the understanding of the culture of others, and

diverse in the different needs between the races of humankind.

As medicine continues to change, nursing is constantly changing in the way that we educate on

our delivery of care. One such situation is the changing of the NCLEX-RN exam. From the National

Councils of States Boards of Nursing website, it states “The NGN exam (Next Generation NCLEX) uses

case studies like you would see in the real world to reflect the kinds of critical decisions nurses have to

make in a variety of healthcare settings. It focuses on interactions between nurse and client, the client's

needs and expected outcomes” (NCSBN, 2021). To facilitate this transition in nursing, I plan to

implement the objectives and goals of the given curriculum by incorporating moving case studies, group

projects, and simulation exercises. Case studies provide an excellent opportunity for students to critically

think outside of the given box. It allows students to gather subjective and objective data and allow them to
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think on the spot of possible diagnosis with the patient, create care plans, and address areas that need

promotion, maintenance, or prevention with the patient. Case studies will allow students to not based their

answer off a given set of multiple-choice answers but force students to bring back information that was

taught and implement it. Simulation will help prepare students for any and every type of patient possible

before stepping in a clinical setting. My simulations will help students prepare for different cultures and

ethnicities and help identify what cultural boundaries and practices are important for each individual

patient to aid in the best care possible. Simulation will also help put different diseases and pathology in a

real-life perspective that will allow students to focus on the problem and how to intervene efficiently.

Lastly, group projects will be help students identify what its like to be apart of a team. Often time in

healthcare, the concept of teamwork is diminished. Through group projects, I want students to be able to

identify roles and responsibilities and how to properly delegate and act in different scenarios. Being able

to educate students not only from book work and presentations will allow the student to be able to gets

hands on and help mold the material in a way that’s easiest for them to understand and master.

Many nurses can relate to that, nursing school taught us how to pass the NCLEX, but the real world

of nursing was not experienced until you have started working as a nurse. As a result, many new graduate

nurses feel incompetent or unprepared when starting work in their respective facilities. As an educator, I

understand that many people are not good at taking test due to anxiety. In traditional nursing schools,

much of a student’s grade is based on written test scores alone. While that is still a priority in

understanding the material, I plan to incorporate other paths of evaluating a students grasp of the material.

As stated above in the previous paragraph related to methods of reaching curriculum goals, I plan to

incorporate case studies, group work, and simulations to assess my students understanding of the material.

As in any profession, book knowledge is only half of the battle, while skill implementation is the other. In

a clinical setting, nurses are tested on skill evaluation and how well they react to certain conditions in the

hospital. Assessing students and grading only with a paper test is not fair to their learning but also

depriving them the connection of the real-world clinical evaluation. I want my students to be evaluated

equally to the theory of lecture as well as the practical hands-on part equally. I believe that this will help
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boost the morale of nursing students and help alleviate stress in studying only to focus on one area and

help the student study and focus more on the material. Allowing nurses to test their skills and knowledge

in various ways will promote a well-rounded nurse and prepare for real life situations.

For my future nursing students, I want them to understand that we are a team. As a nurse educator,

I want my classroom to run like that of a functioning medical facility. Even in the classroom setting, I

want to lead as someone who is alongside them and not just standing over them directing orders. For my

objectives and goals for them to be reached, I must be able to reach their personal goals and objectives.

Course evaluations are a good unit of measurement to see the collective understanding of the material. In

my classroom, I want to first start by gathering every single individual’s goal for nursing school and what

tools can help them best matriculate throughout the curriculum. I want my students to understand that the

lesson will be driven by them, and I want them to be able to come to me and let me know how the pace is

going, what needs to be changed, or questions that are troubling them. I want them to understand and feel

respected knowing that their concerns have been addressed and evaluate their feelings whether a sense of

change in dynamic was noted. Through the various lessons, I want to implement “check points” that not

only check on the students grasp of the concept but their feelings and wellbeing as well. For me to

succeed in my reaching of their goals, we all must be of the same accord. I want them to understand that

no one knows everything, and I do not want to create an environment that shuns questions or gaps in

knowledge. If there is a skill that I do not know, I want to gather them together as team and figure it out. I

want to value my students’ inputs and experiences in whatever it is that they bring to the table. At the end,

I will know if our goals have been achieved not only by metrics of testing scores, but overall morale and

attitude of students. I want each of my students to feel a boost in confidence that is stronger than their

initial day.

In summary, my philosophy on teaching revolves around cultivating students that can make a noted

societal change that ushers in diversity and inclusion in the profession while helping to bridge the gap in

medical knowledge across the board for all. I want to be able to connect to everyone with the mindset that

I am a person just like the next person standing to me. I do not want to elevate my ego based off my
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degree or experience and lower my impact working for a change. Teaching is important to me, because as

I have gone through life, I have encountered things that I did not like, and when given the chance, I knew

I could make the chance to change it for the future of the profession. My contribution to nursing may be

small in the global aspect, but the goal is to spread awareness of barriers in education and medicine that

can spread far and wide and have an impact in nursing far beyond my gaze of the horizon!
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References:

Next Generation NCLEX Project. NCSBN. (2021, April). Retrieved October 8, 2022, from
https://www.ncsbn.org/exams/next-generation-nclex.page