What sort of teaching is done in your nursing role? Is there any nursing role that does not involve teaching in some manner?
Teaching is involved in every facet of nursing, from training new staff, mentoring, patient education, shadowing nursing students, leadership, and so forth; to "Nurse" is to teach. It is important for each nurse to realize that we teach mostly through who we are and what we do, not necessarily through what we say. One of my favorite quotes on this subject is that "what you are doing speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you are saying." We can teach and preach all day long till we are blue in the face, but if we do not exemplify what we say or teach, at the end of the day it will mean nothing. As nurses it is our duty to our profession, our colleagues, and our patients that we teach through our example of clinical excellence, honesty, professionalism, confidence, caring/compassion, integrity, and knowledgeable health care delivery. If a nurse does not demonstrate these things, it is possible to still teach, but the teaching will not be as effective or enduring and you will not have as big of an influence on those around you. Truly there is no nursing role that does not involve teaching in some way or another, so it is imperative that every nurse make teaching effectively a priority in their practice.
