THE COMPETENCE OF NURSE TEACHERS – HOW GOOD THEY ARE? MNSc, RN Sanna Koskinen 3rd International Nursing and Midwifery Conference 4 th -5 th April 2011 School of Nursing and Midwifery National University of Ireland Galway

PICTURES FROM TURKU…

NURSE TEACHERS’ COMPETENCE AND ITS EVALUATION RESEARCH PROJECT Finnish nursing science departments University of Turku University of Tampere University of Eastern Finland University of Oulu Åbo Akademi University Participants – 360º Evaluation Nurse teachers Students Directors of nursing schools Nurse mentors Head nurses and ward sisters

4 NURSE AND NURSE TEACHER EDUCATION IN FINLAND Registered nurse polytechnic level (university of applied sciences) bachelor’s degree in nursing according to the EU directive (2005/36/EC) + national guidelines 210 ECTS (3,5 years) Nurse teacher university level part (70 ECTS) of master's degree studies requirements: a licence of RN MNSc at least 3 years work experience in health care system

THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY to describe the competence of nurse teachers evaluated by nurse teachers 3 rd year students nurse teachers’ competence is examined as nursing competence teaching skills evaluation skills personality factors relationships with students

BACKGROUND Only little scientific research about nurse teachers’ competence. Previous results are contradictory depending on who has acted as an evaluator (Salminen 2000; Salminen et al. 2010). Students’ learning, professional development and ability to integrate theory and practice can be promoted by nurse teachers’ up to date knowledge genuine interest for nursing systematic interaction with students (e.g. Berg & Lindseth 2004; Hand 2006; Holopainen et al. 2009)

METHODOLOGY A descriptive cross-sectional survey design Nurse teachers (n=342), response rate 46% Nurse students (n=202), response rate 16% Structured Likert-scaled questionnaire 1 = realize very poorly - 5 = realize very well Delivered via Statistical analyzes Cronbach’s alfa coefficients Nurse teachers 0,68-0,80 Students 0,69-0,

PARTICIPANTS – TEACHERS Average age 50 years (SD 7,7) Women 97% (n=331) Average nursing work experience 12 years (SD 7,4) Master's degree 57% (n=194) Senior lecturers 67% (n=230) Average work experience as a nurse teacher 14 years (SD 8,3)

PARTICIPANTS – STUDENTS Average age 26 years (SD 6,3) Women 86% (n=174) Previous health care degree (e.g. assistant nurse) 29% (n=58) Previous nursing work experience (e.g. summer job) 73% (n=147) Students according to the degree programmes Nursing 72% (n=145) Public health nursing 12% (n=24) Emergency nursing 9% (n=18) Midwifery 7% (n=15)

TEACHERS 2000 & (n=105) Mean 2007 (n=342) Mean Change Nursing competence3,604,51↑ Teaching skills3,474,37↑ Evaluation skills3,624,42↑ Personality factors3,634,40↑ Relationships with students3,964,66↑ Highest value Lowest value

STUDENTS 2000 & (n=225) Mean 2011 (n=202) Mean Change Nursing competence3,433,34↓ Teaching skills3,313,25↓ Evaluation skills3,232,85↓ Personality factors3,082,88↓ Relationships with students3,473,22↓ Highest value Lowest value

TEACHERS & STUDENTS Teachers 2007 (n=342) Mean Students 2011 (n=202) Mean p Nursing competence4,513,34 <0,001 Teaching skills4,373,25 <0,001 Evaluation skills4,422,85 <0,001 Personality factors4,402,88 <0,001 Relationships with students4,663,22 <0,001 Highest value Lowest value

EXAMPLES AT THE ITEM LEVEL: REALIZE WELL OR REALIZE VERY WELL Teachers… Teachers 2007 (n=342) % Students 2011 (n=202) % are fair in their evaluations9655 offer constructive feedback9226 are honest in providing feedback9650 treat students equally9946 are honest9952 encourage mutual respect9645 take students seriously

CONCLUSIONS Nurse teachers evaluated their competence very good. Like previous research also in this study students were more critical in their evaluations. Despite the criticism students evaluated teachers’ competence rather good. Teachers should pay more attention to student assessments and they need further education about it

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

REFERENCES Berg CL & Lindseth G Students’ perspectives of effective and ineffective nursing instructor. Journal of Nursing Education 43, Directive 2005/36/EC. The European Parliament and the Council. The recognition of professional qualifications. Available from: lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2005:255:0022:0142:EN:PDF Hand H Promoting effective teaching and learning in the clinical setting. Nursing Standard 20, Holopainen A, Tossavainen K & Kärnä-Lin E Nurse teacherhood and categories influencing it. Journal of Research in Nursing 14, Salminen, L Portrait of nurse teacher – requirements for teachers evaluation. Academic dissertation. University of Turku. Department of Nursing Science. Turku. (In Finnish, abstract in English). Salminen L, Stolt M, Saarikoski M, Suikkala A, Vaartio H & Leino-Kilpi H Future challenges for nursing education – European perspective. Nurse Education Today 30,