Nurse Educators

Lifelong Learners

Children’s Nurses Never Stop Learning
On the job, people often are quizzed on what they know. But on the 8 South unit at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, nurse educator Kristen Straka, RN, MSN, CPN, asks nurses a very different question — “What do you want to learn?”

As it turns out, the nurses want to learn about quite a lot — Ms. Straka describes a vast array of learning activities coordinated by the Training & Education Department on subjects such as seizures, medical ethics, crisis management and even the effects of sleep deprivation on parents.

That enthusiasm for learning is not an isolated phenomenon at Children’s. The 20 nurse educators at the hospital — one or two for every unit — work together in a model described as “unit-based collaborative practice.”

That model reflects a philosophy of lifelong learning and innovation in education, according to Bonnie S. Dean, PhD, RN, Children’s director of Nursing Education, Research and Professional Development.

“Rather than relying on a classroom teacher, we take an experienced nurse from a unit, interested in teaching and graduate school preparation, and return that nurse to the unit as the nurse educator,” Dr. Dean says “They not only have clinical expertise, but often provide care day in and day out. They are incredibly valuable.”

Lifers Who Never Accept Status Quo
Nurse educators at Children’s Hospital show a remarkable commitment to the organization. All 20 of them are what they laughingly call “lifers” — each of them began their careers at Children’s.

“My philosophy is that we are all lifelong learners. When we accept the status quo, we are not a high-performing institution,” Dr. Dean says “What we are doing today will not be acceptable tomorrow.”

Dr. Dean laughs. “Our nurses want to learn about everything. ‘What’s changed in cystic fibrosis? Oncology? What does the evidence in the literature say? Do we see evidence-based changes in practice?’”

“If I didn’t get these questions every day, I would start to worry — but never fear, we get them every day.”

Children’s nurse educator program adds to the hospital’s remarkable record of patient safety, job performance and job satisfaction. The program took a big step forward in May 2007, with the initiation of a nurse residency program for more than 100 nurses.

Dr. Dean believes all of the hospital’s nurse education programs contribute to its admirable retention rate.

“My feeling is that you must have a strong education program in order for nurses to fully gain and sustain the knowledge and skills to be an excellent clinician,” she says. “Nobody goes into health care who is not a high achiever — and the worst you can do to high achievers is to not be available to support their lifelong learning needs.”