Nursing Educator: Limitations and Possibilities of a Teaching Career

Abstract

Objective: To identify the limitations and the possibilities of the teaching career in nursing undergraduate courses in public institutions from southern Brazil. Material and Methods: This was a descriptive, exploratory study with a qualitative approach, performed with 16 nurses of two Higher Education Institutions from Santa Catarina state, Brazil. The data were collected between the months of February and June using semi-structured interviews. Participants were selected by snowball non-probabilistics ampling. The operational proposal for qualitative data analysis was adopted, and all ethical issues were respected in accordance with the approval of the Research Ethics Committee. Results: The main challenges on teaching in nursing are related with the lack of pedagogical preparation of the nurse during nursing school. Nevertheless, nursing educators look for new teaching problem-solving based methodologies, and keep on constant learning on the act of teaching. The improvement on the teaching career develops with the pass of time and by the experience on the teaching exercise. The knowledge acquired with the practice of nursing itself is also a determinant factor. Conclusion: Nursing educators are concerned with their teaching condition and look for new pedagogical methodologies, remaining in constant evolution and learning in this role as a nurse professor. The limitations of the teaching practice can be surpassed if the professional admitted the ircondition of apprentice, of being unfinished, hence willing to assume knowledge construction in partnership with the students. DESCRIPTORS Faculty Nursing. Education, Nursing.Teaching.