Nursing in Education
Being a nurse educator allows the facilitation of life-changing alterations in students'
lives, which allow them to grow and be forever more fulfilled, productive,
and happy and this is an unbelievable privilege.
The days are rich and varied. On any given day I may be developing a lecture or presenting one, facilitating a seminar, meeting with a student for academic or career advisement, attending a college or university meeting, working on my research, or writing a paper for publication. The work allows me freedom of expression, the opportunity to work independently and as part of a team, the ability to touch and impact the lives of students, and the great good fortune to use both sides of my brain through both the intellectual and creative activities that are part of the role.
Developing and guiding the careers of next generation of nurses at the undergraduate level or the continued professional and career growth of graduate students is as gratifying a role as one can have in the profession of nursing. The contribution to many patients’ lives that is possible through the faculty role exists because we are able to reach many students who, in turn, touch the lives of many patients. The exponential impact on the lives of the many whom we touch indirectly allows faculty members access to a greater population of patients than we could reach in any other way.
Faculty salaries are often not much higher than that of staff nurses, despite
the requirement for advanced education and the importance of the role.
The joy I feel seeing students walk across the stage as they receive their
graduate degrees instills me with pride and an abiding sense of accomplishment.
The ongoing interaction with graduates who continue to solicit my guidance
and advice long after graduation makes me realize the impact I have had on
their lives.
Probably one of the most fulfilling single experiences is the story a graduate wrote about me that is going to appear as a short story in the soon-to-be-published Sigma Theta Tau book, “Nurses: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives”. She used an anecdote I tell in class to illustrate the impact I had on her personally and professionally. The story ends with the following words she wrote:
“Carol’s story highlights the need to push the traditional boundaries of convention far past what is considered “out of the box thinking” and, in doing so, opens up a world of opportunity for creative administrative thinking and patient advocacy that cannot be learned from any textbook. The decision she made on this relatively minor issue had a great impact on the personal dignity of those in her charge. The lesson was also communicated in a profound way as any grand case study presented in the classroom. Carol is a model teacher and guide, and has become a mentor and a friend to many. She has taught her students that the small things are as important as the grand ones and that detail is as important as the vision.”
At this point in my very varied career, one that spans thirty years and has included many years in direct patient care as a clinical specialist and more years as a nurse executive, I would not trade the nursing faculty role for any other.
What more can I say?
Carol S. Kleinman