Teaching effectiveness: Are RNs prepared and supported for their teaching role

When Florence Nightingale formalized nursing as a profession, she identified teaching as an essential role of the professional registered nurse. From that time to the present day, teaching has remained a cornerstone in nursing practice, regardless of the area in which the nurse practices. Nurse State Practice Acts holds the practitioner legally accountable to be competent in their teaching role. Registered nurses can be considered to be negligence in their care if they fail to adequately teach patients. Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has identified teaching as a competency for registered nurses by having standards which specifically addresses teaching competency of the registered nurse and the hospital supportive role in maintaining this competency.; With increased emphasis on patient teaching, nursing educators must prepare graduates for this role. Educators are being challenged to develop curricula that address the concepts of teaching/learning. This requires nursing education to make changes and adapt curricula to the current needs of the client in today's society. Nurse educators must provide students with a sound knowledge base of teaching learning principles. Development of this knowledge base will facilitate a smoother roll transition from student to graduate.; Likewise, hospital administrations are being challenged to develop supportive methodologies for the RNs teaching roll. Also, hospital administrations must develop a competency checklist to validate the registered nurse's ability and capability to adequately teach patient(s), patient's families, and/or significant other(s).; An acute care hospital in Southern Louisiana was surveyed to determine the registered nurse's perception of educational preparation and hospital administration's support for the teaching role. The determinations of this study were that RNs felt that schools of nursing adequately prepared them for the teaching role, however, they felt that hospital administrations did not support the teaching role.