Katie Mathern RN, BSN, PCCN
Professional Online Portfolio
Evidence of Professional Development
By furthering my education and enrolling in the MSN-Nurse Educator program at the University of Mary, I have had numerous opportunities to grow as a professional. I have expanded my depth and breadth of understanding of clinical nursing as well as grown a large appreciation for transformational and servant leadership. Please feel free to explore a variety of lectures, teaching techniques, and examples of my style of nursing instruction below. As always, please contact me with any questions.
Professional Attainment of NLN Competencies
NLN Core Competencies for Nurse Educators
The National League for Nursing (NLN) has identified 8 competencies to promote excellence in the role of the academic nurse educator. The competencies include:
Facilitate Learning
Facilitate Learner Development and Socialization
Use Assessment and Evaluation Strategies
Participate in Curriculum Design and Evaluation of Program Outcomes
Function as a Change Agent and Leader
Pursue Continuous Quality Improvements in the Nurse Educator Role
Engage in Scholarship
Function within the Educational Environment
In regards to the above NLN core competencies, I have a strong sense of accomplishment of facilitating learning, facilitating learner development and socialization, use of assessment and evaluation strategies and functioning within the educational environment. Areas of limited competence are due to lack of opportunity or experience to gain full competence, such as in curriculum design and evaluation, engaging in scholarship, pursuing quality improvement in the nurse educator role, and functioning as a change agent or leader.
I hope to continue with my education with CNE certification and eventually PhD or DNP so that I can continue to teach in all arenas of nursing education, including graduate programs. I also hope to gain more experience as a nurse educator so that I can identify quality improvement initiatives. Lastly, by working through a thesis project towards graduation with my MSN-Nurse Educator, I will be able to gain more experience engaging in the scholarship of nursing.
Examples of Assignments which Assisted with NLN Core Competency Growth
Core Competency 1: Facilitate Learning
Facilitating learning means creating an environment that is conducive to student learning and achieving set cognitive, psychomotor, and affective outcomes. The example below demonstrates a teaching session that incorporates all three learning domains and includes an interactive activity to keep students engaged within a flipped-classroom approach.
Core Competency 3: Use Assessment and Evaluation Strategies
A variety of assessment and evaluation strategies are utilized in the classroom, clinical, and simulation settings. Below is an example of an evaluation tool developed for senior nursing students in a critical care setting. The purpose was to assess their ability for critical thinking and to give quality feedback to improve or validate performance.
Core Competency 2: Facilitate Learner Development and Socialization
By implementing varied teaching strategies and evaluation techniques, a learning environment is created that facilitates learner development. The example below was implemented in a med-surg classroom which had students break into small groups to collaborate on assigned cancer topics, then present to the class to facilitate learning. This not only allowed me as an educator to evaluate their learning, but it allowed students to practice groupwork and have an active role in class.