Nursing Educational Theory By Joyce J Fitzpatrick
Who Is Joyce J Fitzpatrick
Along with Dr. Fitzpatrick, she has developed an empowerment program for clinical nurses to help them celebrate their contributions to patients, their communities, and the world. She is the mother of six children and lives in Brecksville, Ohio with her husband Mark. Her favorite hobby is reading to her grandchildren.
Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN, FNAP, is Director of the Marian K. Shaughnessy Nurse Leadership Academy and Elizabeth Brooks Ford Professor of Nursing at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University ( CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio.
She is an award winning author with more than 400 publications, including more than 80 books. She is a living legend of nursing. She has two daughters and three grandchildren, Penelope, Augustus, and Calliope.
Interest In Teaching
As an undergraduate student in the School of Nursing at Georgetown University, She decided to dedicate She future work to improving nursing education. One of the primary reasons was the fact that She admired the faculty who taught in the School of Nursing, for their dedication to what they were doing.
They were committed to developing nursing as a profession and encouraged us as undergraduates to pursue graduate study in nursing There was a high energy level among the faculty and a major emphasis on advanced education. At the same time, She felt that there was great potential for growth within the discipline of nursing.
She did not believe that She was as intellectually challenged as She should have been as an undergraduate student at a major university.
She viewed She colleagues in other disciplines as having more scholarly debates, more intellectual discussions about broad social and political issues, compared to those of us studying in the School of Nursing.
She was disappointed that so much of the focus of nursing education was on memorization and recall, and too little was on challenging existing knowledge.
She vowed to make a difference in nursing education nationally (for at that time there was little focus on global health or nursing) and made a commitment to obtain the highest level of education possible in nursing.
She knew then that She would become a teacher and a leader in
academic nursing.
Formal And Informal Influences of Education And Mentors
Immediately following graduation from Georgetown, She entered a master's degree program in nursing, and pursued a clinical focus in psychiatric mental health nursing with a minor focus on nursing education.
She had a significant introduction to educational philosophies during this graduate program, and was introduced to the current issues and debates in nursing education nationally, including the entry level debate; the disciplinary content focus on care, cure, or coordination; and the relationships between generalist and specialist preparation for the discipline.
She loved the opportunity for intellectual debate afforded by graduate education in nursing, and longed for more. While She took a 5-year hiatus from She own academic studies in order to practice as a public health and community mental health nurse, She maintained academic ties to the University.
She participated as a clinical faculty member supervising students in the graduate program in psychiatric mental health nursing, took some courses as a part-time student, and always “hung around” with nurses from the University.
She found colleagues among the nurses who were on the faculty, She knew then that She needed to pursue doctoral education in nursing.
Before doing so, She explored the programs around the country. She chose to pursue the PhD in nursing at New York University as 1 believed that it was the most academically challenging program at the time.
It was everything She expected it to be academic discourse, cutting edge science and research, interesting and challenging academic role models, and, importantly for me, intellectually challenging on a personal level. She learned the academic role as scholar and teaching through observing others and having the opportunity to practice as a junior faculty member.
As a Mentor
She have had many mentors throughout She academic career. One of She first mentors continues as a mentor today. Grayce Sills was on the faculty at Ohio State University School of Nursing when She was a master's prepared community mental health nurse practicing in Columbus Ohio.
She took She under her wing and provided guidance to She in both She academic and professional nursing development. Grayce took She to She first professional association meeting and She have been a professional association “junkie” ever since.
She introduced She to the politics of professional nursing, as she had been guided by Hildegard Peplau, one of the masters of professional organization politics.
When it came
time to choose a doctoral program in nursing, it was Grayce who steered
She to NYU and Martha Rogers, suggesting
that She would resonate with the
advanced and radical thought emanating from NYU. She was never sorry that She followed that advice.
Her second set of mentors were found at NYU; both Martha Rogers and Florence Downs guided She in different ways and different directions. Martha stretched She conceptual and professional thinking, pushing the boundaries of the discipline intellectually and practically.
She was always amazed at the integrity that she
displayed in all that she did. Florence served as She researcher and introduced she to the rigors of research so important in
advise scientific nursing both then and now.
Her third set of professional mentors were introduced to She in She first academic position following She doctoral degree.
She assumed a position of leadership in theory and research in academic nursing and sought out the mentorship of Harriet Werley , who at that time, in She mind, was the founder of nursing research in the US As a new faculty member She introduced myself to Harriet and told her that She wanted to know everything that she knew about nursing research.
She took She under her wing as a co-editor in the design and launch of the Annual Review of Nursing Research series (now in its 22nd volume), with the understanding that She would assume leadership for the series within a 5-year period.
Unlike She other mentors, Harriet's training had been in the discipline of psychology, which had a rich history of academic development in research, teaching, and clinical practice. This mentorship provided grounding for She in the inclusion of all of these components.
Enhanced Development of Her Teaching And Leadership Skills
Timing is everything, and the timing of She introduction to academic nursing at the doctoral level was critical to She own development as a teacher. Immediately after completing She PhD in nursing She accepted a faculty position in a school of nursing that had just developed a doctoral program in nursing.
She was asked to teach the first course, the introduction to nursing theory and research.
In the first course, She had 5 doctoral students and 5 faculty members as students. One of the faculty members was a full professor in the school of nursing, and She learned very early that She had expertise that was different and important to the discipline of nursing.
She learned to believe in She own expertise. Because She was the only faculty member with a doctoral degree in nursing, She learned quickly to clarify the need for development of graduate education (particularly doctoral education) within the discipline to develop our science, rather than to borrow all of our knowledge from other disciplines.
She teaching was refined because it was challenged; this undoubtedly influenced She evolution as a teacher.
She has always felt a high level of comfort as a teacher. In fact, She is more comfortable each year. The more experience She have as a teacher, the better She am as a teacher.
This degree of comfort is not always translated into formal presentations. She still experience a degree of discomfort whenever doing a formal presentation. I'm not sure why this is the case.
Challenges And Rewards
One of She challenges as a teacher is no doubt the challenge of many of She colleagues. That is the difficulty inherent in balancing all that we have to do as leaders in academic nursing: teaching, writing, researching, and advising students at all levels.
Every day requires a juggling of priorities, in which the decision that is made often is based on the greatest good for the greatest number of persons. Yet, on a day-to-day level, sometimes these decisions are not as clear-cut as they appear.
Another
challenge is the realization that there is no “down time” as an academic
leader years later will quote your communication to them. She learned early in She academic career that there is no such thing
as casual conversation.
One of the most rewarding aspects of teaching is to see the success of one's students. She have had hundreds of successful students over the course of She many years of teaching.
Many of these students are in key positions of leadership in nursing throughout the world. She chose nursing education as an area of focus because She believed that the ripple effect was so important.
She can influence the health
of so many more people by influencing the high level education of many nurses.
Teaching future teachers of nurses and preparing future leaders in nursing is
very rewarding to me.
One of She concerns over She years as a teacher has been the parochial views within the ranks of nurses themselves. We have the potential to determine our own destiny, but often do not exercise the potential.
The lack of
intellectual discourse, challenges to the system, and acceptance of the status
quo are frustrating to me. She wish
nurse faculty members were more likely to be risk takers, asking questions that
are visionary and future oriented rather than continuing the present state of
learning.
Progress in Growth For Self And Others
She try to learn something new every day, by reading, by listening to experts from outside and inside of nursing and health care. She have always believed that the more exposure to information the better. She am an avid consumer of all that is available on the Internet.
She try to learn from information that is
available in a range of sources. The amount of health care information
available to all of us is overwhelming; it is difficult to discern what
information is most critical. But the more you know the easier it is to discern
the value of information.
She also try to network with as many people as possible, on the
local, national, and global level. She keep
a wide range of contacts, particularly within nursing circles. She spend a lot of time communicating with other
nurses and other health care professionals who have expertise that She do not have.
Her advice to new teachers is to continue to learn by trying new
methods and techniques of teaching, and do not be afraid to challenge the
system. Make certain that you are an avid learner and that you surround
yourself with those who can stretch your own development.
Give your opinion if have any.