In "Overhauling Nursing Education: Are There Better Ways to Teach and Learn?" Stokowski addresses the need to shift from a "telephoto lens" view of nursing education to a "panoramic view." This provides an effective analogy to guide us through the current revolution in nursing education. As we respond to mandates to change our educational strategies, reevaluate and update nursing credentials, and address the relationship of nursing education to nursing practice, adjusting our view can remind us of where we are and where we want to go.
Michael Bleich, PhD, RN, Dean, Oregon Health & Science University, School of Nursing, and leader of the 2009 Future of Nursing forums, finds the current intent of nursing education acceptable. However, the forums identified an eminent need to revise our teaching strategies, address the expansion of nursing knowledge, and teach our nursing students the complexity and challenges of managing patient populations. Given that most teaching still follows a medical disease oriented model that exposes students to various medical specialties, care coordination among disciplines working on multidisciplinary teams is often not successfully addressed. Knowledge management also requires a more "panoramic view" as nurses must be able to access, assess, and synthesize vast amounts of information using evolving tools and strategies. These skills are not congruent with the "telephoto-lens" approach of attempting to fill the brains of our students with retrievable facts. The Future of Nursing report suggested faculty use competency-based learning and interprofessional education in making this shift.
Stokowski concludes that nursing now has another opportunity to be leaders in transforming healthcare. Perhaps nursing's full potential can be achieved by shifting to that "panoramic view."
Source: Stokowski L. Overhauling nursing education. Nurs Perspect. Posted January 28, 2011. Available athttp://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/736236?src=mp&spon=24. Accessed February 15, 2011.
Submitted by: Robin E. Pattillo, PhD, RN, CNL, News Editor at [email protected].