6 Essential Skills of a Nursing Instructor
How to support student learning during a clinical rotation
My job as a nursing instructor is similar to that of an agency nurse. I never know where I’m going to get sent and am a visitor in sometimes foreign territory.
Being an instructor requires many skills to effectively train nursing students to be safe, accountable and professional.
There are 6 fundamental requirements for this job when placed in a clinical setting.
1. Experience and knowledge
It’s advantageous to have a broad background to transition to different institutions and various general units seamlessly. Although the procedures are the same — catheter care or the sterile technique doesn’t change— the available equipment, paperwork, and protocols often differ.
Some prohibit practical nurses from performing procedures they are legally entitled to; the variations on paperwork are vast. As a teacher, I must respect the protocols imposed for each establishment and adjust to documentation variants.
Having a solid and varied nursing background gives me the confidence to work in new places because there is not much that I haven’t seen or done.
