Challenges Faced by Nurse Educators PAGE

\* MERGEFORMAT 2

Chapter 1

Introduction

Background of the Study

Nursing education is facing various challenges locally and globally. From aligning

nursing education with the practice settings to incorporating nursing as an integral part of the

health workforce, to adequately preparing nursing educators and providing them with proper

development opportunities, to dealing with technological, economical and ethnic challenges,

nursing educators are entitled to recognize and deal with the obstacles that come with the 21st

century, in order to maintain a high quality of nursing graduates, quality of care as well as

safeguard patient safety and satisfaction.

Nurse educators are required to equip students with adequate theoretical and practical

knowledge to provide effective nursing care. Educators experience workload and time

constraints and struggle to effectively teach students due to inadequate student-educator ratio;

underdeveloped curriculum; inadequate resources; inadequate clinical teaching settings for skills,

simulation labs; inadequate professional development opportunities; lack of autonomous

decision making; lack of educational, management, and research support from the regulatory

bodies; and lack of educational research. Nurse educators' issues and challenges are persistent

and require support from regulatory bodies and educational authorities. There is a need to

develop policies to improve teaching and learning conditions for educators, provide them with

the opportunities to enhance their own learning, and opportunities to collaborate with other

educators in order to better prepare student nurses (Younas, 2019).

Challenges Faced by Nurse Educators PAGE
\* MERGEFORMAT 2

Buthelezi et al (2023) mentioned in their study that nursing education is an ever-changing

field and upon the transition from conventional classroom to web-based clinical instruction,

educators have become required to guide, motivate and coach students to acquire a more

advanced technological experience within their field of study. The deficit in nurse educators

which is worsened by the present task overload, deficient reinforcement and difficult access to

academics when educators are cross-performing as clinical practitioners. Some solutions that can

be summarized in working on maintaining a high quality of bachelor education for nurses,

implementing articulation programs, establishing strong partnerships between educational

facilities and clinical settings and implementing internship programs, simulation and inter-

professional approaches in nursing education, can be proposed that are ultimately benef

Shpýicial for scholars, educators and the profession of nursing education (Fawaz, 2018).

Nurses successfully apply high quality of care if maintaining their competencies. The

quality of nursing care is dynamic, and competency is needed to be adapted. The presence of

clinical nurse educator able to strengthen nurses’ knowledge and skill in the clinical setting.

Findings of Nuryani et al. (2022) suggest certain advantages for the hospital, such as continuing

professional education and becoming a role model. Greater incentive to learn, as well as personal

rewards such as increased self-confidence, being appreciated, and having trust. Lack of support

from management related to educational preparation for this function, the necessity to continue

giving direct care, and the Clinical Nurse Educator (CNE) ratio with the number of nurses is not

equal were some of the challenges that arose. CNEs serve a critical role in the clinical context

they help nurses with ongoing education and competency maintenance. While numerous
Challenges Faced by Nurse Educators PAGE
\* MERGEFORMAT 2

excellent outcomes have developed and CNEs personally, many were confronted several

obstacles in fulfilling their work properly.

Buthelezi et al. (2023) mentioned in their study that nursing education’s positioning

within higher education mandated public nursing education institutions to develop competent

nurses to manage diverse disease profiles of the country. Nurse educators were tasked to develop

a competency-based curriculum with emphasis on primary healthcare to help prepare nurses to

be independent, leaders, researchers, and critical thinkers. Emerged during data analysis were

psychological and emotional impact, challenges with communication and interpersonal relations,

nurse educators experienced transformation and empowerment, nurse educators encountered

barriers that impacted on their allocated tasks and, nurse educators demonstrated resilience with

the curriculum development processes. Participants reported positive and negative experiences

they encountered during curriculum development. The findings revealed that nurse educators

need support when involved in curriculum development.

Hakim (2023) in his study on the challenges of clinical education cited that nursing

clinical education is an important part of education in nursing in which students obtain the

necessary skills to care for patients. The findings of the study showed the view of students the

factors such as incongruity between educator’s expertise, and internship, lack of qualified

educators, student’s disinclination to study, lack of cooperation of health professionals, students’

unawareness of their strengths and weaknesses. Lack of skilled clinical educators in the

educational planning section. Modifying clinical education challenges lead to achieving the

educational goals and consequently, educating skillful personnel and supplying high-quality care

services.
Challenges Faced by Nurse Educators PAGE
\* MERGEFORMAT 2

Some of the critical challenges in nursing education includes the following: Nurse

educators’ shortage, web-based programs, lack of preceptors, updating curriculum and social

media use. With a lack of nurses comes a shortage of nurse educators. Nurses prefer a clinical

position due to the higher salary and reduced administrative role. Integrating technology in the

nursing program is challenging. New technology is not always affordable and students may

struggle to access these tools. Finding adequate clinical placements can be challenging. Nursing

curriculum must keep up with the constant changing healthcare management. Social media use

has increased in use by nurse educators and students (Mosher, 2023).

By facing our challenges and overcoming them, the nurse educators grow stronger, wiser,

and more compassionate. Nurse educators face challenges on a daily basis. Change is what leads

nurse educators to growth. Challenges within the work can be viewed differently. Implement

new strategies into teaching seem overwhelming, frustrating, and even time consuming despite

the positive outcomes this change might bring. While some of the same challenges exist in the

workplace such as work overload and burnout, there are some differences in the area of nursing

education. Like for example, bedside staff nurses face heavy patient loads with the lack of

support staff. They also face burnout, especially in recent times due to the national pandemic.

Nurse educators too must handle heavy workloads and burnout but in a different way. Other

challenges as the educator could be lack of learner interest, lack of effort, and incivility (Wiley,

2021).

Findings of the study of Bvumbwe et al. (2018) on challenges and solutions to nursing

education supports World Health Organization framework for transformative and scale up of

health professions education. The following emerged in the results like curriculum reforms,
Challenges Faced by Nurse Educators PAGE
\* MERGEFORMAT 2

profession regulation, transformative teaching strategies, collaboration and partnership, capacity

building and infrastructure and resources. Challenges and solutions in nursing education are

common within countries. However, strategic leadership, networking and partnership to share

expertise and best practices are critical. More reforms are needed to increase capacity of

educators and mentors, responsiveness of curricula, strong regulatory frameworks, and

availability of infrastructure and resources. The study adds to the body of knowledge to enhance

efforts of stakeholders in the improvement of the quality, quantity and relevance of nursing

education.

Technology is an integral part of healthcare. With the rapid development of technological

innovations that inform and support nurses, it is important to assess how these technologies may

affect their workload, where the workforce and supports may be limited. Technology can play an

important role to support nurses working, however, not all technologies have the same impact.

While some technologies showed evidence to positively impact nursing workload, this was not

universal. Technology solutions should be considered on a contextual basis and thought should

be given when selecting technologies to support nursing workload. Use of technology can be

important for healthcare providers to enhance the health, quality of life, and wellbeing of

patients. Not only can the presence of technology in health systems increase the quality of

treatments and services provided for patients, but the proper use of technological equipment can

also support a safe and highly efficient work environment for health care provider

(Mohammadnejad et al. 2023).

Clinical education is the heart of nursing professional education. One of the

characteristics that distinguish the profession and science is the close relationship between the
Challenges Faced by Nurse Educators PAGE
\* MERGEFORMAT 2

theoretical and clinical domains in nursing education. Nurse educators have identified the

following difficulties as having an impact on their ability to train and instruct the next generation

of nurses. In order to keep learning with the fast-changing professional practice, it is crucial for

nursing academics to continuously modify their curricula. Faculty members learn what the

students thought of their clinical placements at the end of each semester. The goal of nursing

programs is to produce nurses who can provide safe, high-quality care and who can adapt to

changing practice situations. Nursing educators make an effort to expose their students to a

variety of learning opportunities so that they can acquire the best available evidence and receive

their information from a variety of sources. Nurse educators must invest a lot of time and effort

into this technique, which may also encounter difficulties. The lack of nurses in clinical settings

and academia has put a strain on nurse educators' limited resources. The time needed to upgrade

their knowledge and abilities is not available to nurse educators. Clinical nurse educators' most

common source of discontent was a lack of opportunity. As it increases the acute and long-term

stress levels of nurse educators, this can also contribute to the rising nurse burnout ([Link].

2022).

While it is not new for nurses in the Philippines opting to go abroad in search of better

opportunities. Amid regular work and experiencing burnout from their shifts due to the

pandemic, some nurses are taking advantage of the reopening of economies abroad and the

laxing of border restrictions to look for employment overseas. Because of the lack of

opportunities in our country, Dr. Anthony Leachon, former adviser to the country’s pandemic

task force mentioned that nurses are overworked, they are overburdened but less appreciated and

seem undervalued. And there is a discrepancy between the payments of private hospitals and the

public hospitals. He cited that nurses in private institutions are "resigning in droves." He
Challenges Faced by Nurse Educators PAGE
\* MERGEFORMAT 2

cited nurses from private would transfer and work for government instead or they end up in other

industries before taking up mandatory exams for the country they will be migrating to (Valmonte

2022).

Theoretical/ Conceptual Framework

This study will utilize the theory of Betty Neuman model on A Total Person Approach.

This model attempts to assist nurses, families and groups to attain and maintain a maximum level

of total wellness by purposeful interventions. These are aimed at reduction of stress factors and

adverse conditions which either affect or could affect optimal functioning in a given situation.

This model presents a comprehensive system-based conceptual framework for nursing. It views

the individual who is subject to the impact of stressors, reaction to stress and factors of

reconstitution. It is considered a wellness model and illustrates the composite of five interacting

variable- physiological, psychological, sociocultural, developmental and spiritual. The Betty

Neuman’s System model can validate research in determining the health intervention on the

impacts of social media on mental health outcomes. The theory is suited for the study since it

involves the challenges faced by nurses as educators in their daily life in the school or hospitals.

The study will investigate the challenges faced by nurse educators in colleges of nursing in

Urdaneta City. Box number 1 is the Input that deals on the profile of the respondents in terms of

their age, sex, civil status, highest educational attainment, monthly family income, number years

as nurse educator, position, employment status and category of school. Box number 2 is the

Process that deals on the data gathering process, interpretation and analysis of data. Box number

3 is the Output that focuses on the proposed intervention program to minimize the challenges

faced by nurse educators and thereby motivate them to stay put in their employment.
Challenges Faced by Nurse Educators PAGE
\* MERGEFORMAT 2

Input Process Output

Profile of the
Respondents

a. age;
b. sex;
c. civil status
d. highest
educational
attainment Proposed
Data gathering
e. monthly family Intervention Program
income; Interpretation of to lessen the
f. position;
data challenges faced by
g. number of years
as nurse nurse educators
Analysis of data
educator;
h. position;
i. employment
status, and
j. category of
school

Challenges faced by
nurse educators

Figure 1. Research Paradigm

Challenges Faced by Nurse Educators PAGE
\* MERGEFORMAT 2

Statement of the Problem

The study aims to investigate the challenges faced by nurse educators in colleges of

nursing in Urdaneta City.

Specifically, the study will answer the following questions:

1. What is the profile variables of the respondents in terms of:

a. age;

b. sex;

c. civil status;

d. highest educational attainment;

e. monthly family income;

f. employment status;

g. position; and

h. number of years as nurse educator, and

i. category of school?

2. What are the challenges faced by nurse educators in colleges of nursing along;

a. human resources;

b. faculty development challenges;

c. curriculum challenges;

d. technological challenges;
Challenges Faced by Nurse Educators PAGE
\* MERGEFORMAT 2

e. promotion and recognition;

f. student relationship challenges; and

g. pay inequity?

3. Is there a significant difference between the challenges faced by nurse educators in

colleges of nursing across their profile variables?

4. Is there a significant relationship between the challenges faced by nurse educators in

colleges of nursing across their profile variables?

5. What proposed intervention program could be formulated to minimize the challenges

faced by nurse educators?

Research Hypotheses

This study will be tested in its null form at 0.05 level of significance that,

1. There is no significant difference between the challenges faced by nurse educators in

selected colleges of nursing across their profile variables.

2. There is significant relationship between the challenges faced by nurse educators in

selected colleges of nursing across their profile variables