Review of the Australian nurse teacher professional practice standards: An e-Delphi study

Abstract

Aim

The aim of the study was to review the 2010 Australian nurse teacher professional practice standards (‘the Standards’) to see if they were still relevant to current nursing educator practice in any practice setting, such as academia or clinical settings.

Background

It has been over 10 years since ‘the Standards have been reviewed. Nurse education practice has met many challenges in the past decade, so it is timely to evaluate whether the Standards are still relevant to nursing educators today.

Design

A modified Delphi technique was used for this study.

Methods

Delphi surveys were used to obtain consensus on the relevance of the Standards’ statements to any nursing educator. Links to two electronic surveys were sent to an expert panel of nursing educator leaders. Also, two online focus groups of nursing educators from any practice setting or level of experience were held. Results from the first survey and focus groups led to word changes and additional statements, which were included in the second Delphi survey.

Results

Forty participants responded to the first survey and 38 to the second. Fifteen nursing educators attended the focus groups. There was ≥85 % agreement on all statements in the first survey. with similar high agreement responses in the second survey. Changes in the Standards included language used around culture, inclusion of ‘sustainability of the program’ and ‘demonstrates knowledge and expertise in teaching and educational practice’.

Conclusions

The Australian nurse teacher professional practice standards remain highly relevant to nursing educators across all practice settings. In response to feedback from nursing educators some changes to language and additional standard statements were included in the revised standards.