Juggling the dual role of practitioner and educator: practice teachers' perceptions

This paper reports on a study exploring the role (caseload manager; practitioner; educator) of Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN) Practice Teachers (PTs) and mentors for Specialist Practice Community (SPC) district nursing students. Methodological triangulation was used, comprising q...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Community practitioner : the journal of the Community Practitioners' & Health Visitors' Association 2012-02, Vol.85 (2), p.23-26
Main Authors: Carr, Helen, Gidman, Janice
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitude of Health Personnel
Cognition & reasoning
Community Health Nursing - education
Community Health Nursing - organization & administration
England
Female
Flexibility
Health visiting
Humans
Interviews as Topic
Leadership
Learning
Male
Mentors
Nurse's Role
Nursing
Nursing Education Research
Professional development
Professional practices
Public health
Questionnaires
Specialists
Specialties, Nursing
State Medicine
Students
Support groups
Surveys and Questionnaires
Teachers
Workloads
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Summary:This paper reports on a study exploring the role (caseload manager; practitioner; educator) of Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN) Practice Teachers (PTs) and mentors for Specialist Practice Community (SPC) district nursing students. Methodological triangulation was used, comprising questionnaires completed by 15 PTs and mentors, followed by six semistructured interviews, to provide quantitative and qualitative data. The results of the study identify that post-registration students demanded considerable time due to their need to develop leadership and higher cognitive skills in practice. PTs and mentors identified feeling undervalued by the organisation and colleagues as they tried to maintain their dual role with limited time or resources allocated. Respondents reported that they often worked over their hours to maintain both roles which impacted on their work life balance. They reported that both peer and university support groups were valuable and suggested that increased contact from lecturers and greater flexibility in university courses would accommodate their continuing professional development. It is, therefore, concluded that further support is needed by both the organisation and the university to enable this dual role.
ISSN:1462-2815