Episode 9 From Clinician to Educator: An Interview with Nurse Educator Mary Jo Westerfield

Guest Mary Jo Westerfield, R.N.

Instructor, ASN, Somerset Community College, Kentucky, USA

Former Director of Obstetrics at Saint Joseph London, London, Kentucky

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the hosts or the podcast.

 

In this episode, we sit down with Mary Jo, a dedicated nurse and nurse educator, to explore her journey from clinician to educator. Mary Jo shares her initial thoughts on teaching strategies and how she naturally gravitated towards methods used by her peers in the nursing discipline. She then discusses the value of exploring the methods in other disciplines.

Mary Jo provides valuable insights on moving from hands-on clinical work to the world of education, discussing the challenges and rewards of this significant career shift. She also explains how she uses Kahoot to seamlessly transition students from one day's instruction to the next, highlighting the effectiveness of 5-10 question quizzes as a formative assessment tool. Addressing the debate on study guides, Mary Jo explores different approaches and shares the method that works best for her and her students.

Her approach to teaching clinical skills emphasizes hands-on experience and practical application, ensuring competency-based learning. She underscores the significance of incorporating culturally relevant pedagogy in nursing education and discusses how ethics across different cultures play a crucial role in her teaching methods.

A memorable moment in the interview is when Mary Jo shares the story behind what caused her to lie down on the floor of her office—a moment of vulnerability and learning. In a first for our podcast, host Steve challenges Mary Jo to respond to three emerging trends in education, and she provides her take on each trend and its potential impact on the future of nursing education.

Tune in to this episode for valuable insights and practical strategies from a seasoned nurse educator. Whether you're a fellow educator or simply interested in the field of nursing, Mary Jo's experiences and advice are sure to inspire and inform.

 

Resources:

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning Hardcover – April 14, 2014 by Peter C. Brown (Author), Henry L. Roediger III (Author), Mark A. McDaniel (Author)

Kahoot is a free game-based learning platform that makes it fun to learn – any subject, in any language, on any device

About the National Great Teachers Movement

Other Great Teachers Resources

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