Julie Halton

Principal supervisor

Dr Brett Vaughan (Department of Medical Education)

Associate supervisors

Dr Louise Allen (Department of Medical Education)

Dr Colin Ireland (University of South Australia)

Project title

Exploring the transition of clinical nurses to novice nurse educator roles in Australian hospitals

Abstract / overview of project

My own journey from experienced nurse clinician into a clinical nurse educator role was very challenging due to the lack of formal orientation, no preceptor or mentor support and non-existent scaffolded learning about the role.  As both a nurse, and a nurse educator, I informally mentored peers, clinical staff and new learners so their lived experience of a role transition was more positive than my own but wanted to do more. This mixed method research will extend my previous work - 'The transition of clinical nurses to nurse educator roles: A scoping review' - and explore the lived experience of the transition of new nurse educators in real time and over time, in the clinical context in Australia and how these clinical nurses prepare for, and are supported during, this transition. Additional work will be done to identify job titles, essential qualifications, and role descriptions for clinical nurse educators in Australia, as well as describing what supports are provided by employers of clinical nurse educators.