Nursing Education Concepts of Christine A Tanner Who is Christine A. Tanner
Christine A. Tanner obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from the University of Northern Colorado, her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) from the University of California, San Francisco, and her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
She holds the position of Youmann Spaulding Distinguished Professor at the Oregon Health and Science University School of Nursing. Prior to her current role in Oregon, Dr. Tanner served as the Assistant Dean for Curriculum at the University of Northern Colorado.
A recognized Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, Dr. Tanner has received numerous awards for her contributions to nursing education. She teaches courses on curriculum development and evaluation, teaching strategies, and critical thinking. Her research areas include assessing patient volatility, the effectiveness of nursing telephone advice, improving nurse-physician communication, and clinical decision-making. Additionally, she played a pivotal role in founding the Society for Research in Nursing Education.
Professional Journey
Dr. Tanner advocates for the utilization of multiple curriculum models, diverse pedagogical theories, and various educational philosophies to guide teaching practices. She collaborates with a statewide group of nurse educators to redesign nursing education by integrating research evidence on student learning, expertise development, and clinical judgment into the curriculum.
Her passion lies in discovering innovative and transformative methods that can elevate nursing education and enhance the level of nursing practice required in today’s society.
Interest in Teaching
Dr. Tanner’s interest in teaching was sparked during her undergraduate nursing program. She experienced the impact of both exceptional and less effective teachers, developing a deep respect for the outstanding ones. Observing how these teachers could significantly aid students in understanding complex material inspired her to consider a teaching career.
After completing her undergraduate studies, Dr. Tanner worked in a nursing intensive care unit but soon sought a new challenge. Eager to advance her career and looking for a change, she enrolled in the master’s program at the University of California, San Francisco, aiming to become a clinical specialist in medical-surgical nursing.
During her master’s program, she chose nursing education courses and excelled in a microteaching course led by Marlene Kramer. This course involved exploring various teaching strategies, videotaping teaching sessions, and receiving peer feedback, which greatly enhanced her confidence and comfort in a teaching role.
Additionally, Dr. Tanner took a curriculum development course with Shirley Chater, which further enriched her teaching skills. Upon completing her degree, she returned to Colorado, seeking either a clinical nurse specialist or a teaching position. She opted to join the University of Northern Colorado, beginning her teaching career. She fell in love with teaching, finding immense joy in seeing students connect with the material and grow personally through their nursing experiences.
Willingness for Teaching
Dr. Tanner entered teaching with a strong clinical background and a solid foundation in nursing practice. Her training emphasized reasoning and critical thinking over mere memorization of facts, a philosophy she valued as a student and later applied in her teaching practices with clinical students.
During her two years at Northern Colorado, Dr. Tanner realized she wanted to deepen her understanding of teaching and learning processes, prompting her to pursue a PhD. In the mid-1970s, with limited doctoral programs in nursing available, she chose to study educational psychology with a minor in cognitive psychology at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Her research focused on how nurses make clinical decisions, inspired by observing students’ struggles to apply factual knowledge to real clinical situations. This led her to explore new methods for enhancing clinical judgment and decision-making in nursing education, laying the foundation for her ongoing research and teaching methodologies.
Training For Teaching
Dr. Tanner gained valuable teaching experience through her involvement in staff development at a veterans’ hospital in California, where she was mentored by Ann Huntsman. Overcoming her initial nervousness about public speaking, Dr. Tanner became more comfortable addressing groups, a skill that was crucial as she transitioned into her teaching career in Colorado.
At the University of Northern Colorado, Dr. Tanner participated in a large curriculum grant aimed at revising nursing education. Under the leadership of Lida Thompson, she worked with faculty members who had limited teaching experience, focusing on conceptual thinking and helping students apply theoretical concepts to clinical practice. Dean Phyllis Drennan was instrumental in encouraging Dr. Tanner to pursue doctoral studies, providing essential support and confidence.
Additionally, Dr. Tanner benefited from the mentorship of Shirley Chater and Marlene Kramer at UCSF, who emphasized the importance of personal touch in large classes. Their positive feedback on her work motivated her to refine her teaching techniques and embrace innovative educational practices.
Development as a Teacher
Dr. Tanner’s commitment to understanding how people learn and develop expertise has profoundly influenced her teaching approach. In the early 1980s, she collaborated with Bill Holzemer to establish the Society for Research in Nursing Education. This group brought together passionate nursing educators dedicated to advancing nursing education through research and innovation.
Alongside colleagues like Nancy Diekelmann, Pat Moccia, David Allen, and Em Bevis, Dr. Tanner addressed the stagnation in nursing education by advocating for curriculum reform. This movement, known as “The Curriculum Revolution: A Mandate for Change,” aimed to challenge traditional teaching methods and embrace diverse educational models and pedagogical theories.
Dr. Tanner actively participated in conferences and discussions to revitalize nursing education, promoting a more dynamic and responsive approach to teaching and learning. Her efforts contributed significantly to transforming nursing education, fostering a more engaging and effective learning environment.
Research on Education
Dr. Tanner’s research explores how students and practicing nurses process clinical judgments and make decisions. Starting after her doctoral program in 1977 and continuing into the early 1980s, her work highlighted the gap between students’ factual knowledge and their ability to apply it in clinical settings. This observation led her to investigate methods that enhance clinical decision-making and judgment in nursing practice.
Collaborating with Patricia Benner, Dr. Tanner delved into the philosophy of science, studying the works of Martin Heidegger and Bert Dreyfus. Their discussions fostered a collaborative relationship that resulted in the publication of “Expertise in Nursing Practice: Caring, Clinical Judgment and Ethics” in 1996. This book encapsulates their research on expertise and clinical judgment, offering valuable insights into the cognitive processes of nursing professionals.
Furthering her research, Dr. Tanner conducted a multi-site study on nursing telephone advice with Barbara Valanis at the Kaiser Center for Health Research. This study examined the communication styles and clinical judgments of nurses during telephone interactions, demonstrating the critical role of nursing advice in preventing unnecessary medical visits and improving patient outcomes. Although the study underscored the importance of nurse advice, it did not establish a direct link between clinical judgment and patient outcomes, prompting Dr. Tanner to continue exploring this connection in her subsequent research.
Comfortable As a Teacher
Dr. Tanner felt comfortable in her teaching roles within a few years, gaining confidence in designing meaningful courses and engaging effectively with students. Despite this overall comfort, she experiences anxiety at the start of each new quarter when meeting a new group of students and planning the term. This initial nervousness is common among educators and serves as a reminder of the importance of the first day of class in establishing student-teacher interactions.
Dr. Tanner maintains that teaching is an evolving process, never teaching the same course in exactly the same way twice. She consistently revises her courses each year, embracing flexibility and adaptability to meet the changing needs of her students. By closely observing student learning and making necessary adjustments, she ensures that her teaching remains relevant and effective. Dr. Tanner believes that teaching involves substantial intellectual effort, requiring continuous reflection and modification based on student feedback and learning outcomes.
Challenges
One of Dr. Tanner’s primary challenges has been working with educators resistant to change in nursing education. These individuals often prefer traditional methods and are reluctant to incorporate new research-based practices, making it difficult to implement innovative teaching strategies. Dr. Tanner finds this rigidity frustrating, as it hinders the overall educational experience and limits opportunities for student growth.
Another significant challenge is the generational shift in the student population. Dr. Tanner observes that modern students often adopt a customer-oriented mindset, expecting education to be delivered according to their preferences. This “entitlement” stereotype creates a gap between her teaching philosophy and student expectations, making it difficult to engage students who view the classroom as a transactional environment rather than a collaborative learning space.
Additionally, Dr. Tanner struggles with students who are disengaged despite their academic pursuits, questioning their commitment to learning. She finds it challenging to motivate these students and bridge the disconnect between their academic goals and their actual engagement in the learning process. However, she remains optimistic, believing that collaborative efforts with colleagues can help address and overcome these challenges.
Embarrassing Moments
One of Dr. Tanner’s most memorable embarrassing moments occurred during a large postgraduate course on decision-making. On the first day of class, coinciding with an accreditation visit, she arrived wearing her bedroom slippers. Embracing the situation, she used her footwear as a teaching tool by having students generate hypotheses about her choice of footwear, linking it to the course topic of diagnostic reasoning. This lighthearted approach turned an awkward moment into an engaging classroom activity. The accreditation visitors noted her unique teaching method in their report, and the incident became a humorous anecdote. Subsequently, Dr. Tanner observed a tradition among her students, who began attending classes in bedroom slippers as a nod to her memorable first day.
Rewarding Aspects
Dr. Tanner finds the most rewarding aspects of her career in her current role as a Distinguished Professor, where she collaborates with nurse educators across the state to redesign nursing education. This work involves incorporating research on student learning, expertise development, and clinical judgment into the curriculum, leading to innovative and effective teaching practices. She is particularly excited about the advancements in technology that support her educational initiatives and the ability to mentor young faculty members eager to excel in their teaching roles.
Witnessing students connect with the material and experience personal and professional growth is a significant source of fulfillment for Dr. Tanner. She takes pride in seeing students integrate their experiences, develop critical thinking skills, and recognize the meaningful impact of nursing on their own lives and the lives of others. The success of her curriculum redesign efforts and the positive feedback from students affirm the value of her work and motivate her to continue striving for excellence in nursing education.
Least Rewarding Aspects
Dr. Tanner’s least rewarding experiences involve working with doctoral students who lack engagement and view their education as merely obtaining a degree. Their disinterest in applying educational research to their teaching practices is particularly frustrating, as it undermines the efforts to integrate research-based methodologies into nursing education. Despite these challenges, Dr. Tanner remains committed to fostering a collaborative and innovative educational environment, believing that persistence and teamwork can overcome these obstacles.
Maintaining Excellence
To maintain excellence in her teaching, Dr. Tanner ensures that her instructional methods are informed by her ongoing research. She actively engages in conversations with peers both locally and nationally, sharing insights and strategies to enhance teaching effectiveness. By continuously observing and evaluating student learning, she adapts her courses to better meet educational needs and learning outcomes.
Dr. Tanner also dedicates time to consulting on nursing education research and practice, finding that these interactions are mutually beneficial and enrich her own teaching practices. This collaborative approach allows her to address long-standing issues in nursing education and develop innovative solutions that enhance the overall quality of education for nursing students.
Advice for Teachers
Dr. Christine A. Tanner offers the following advice to aspiring and current nursing educators:
- Stay Open to Conversations: Engage in ongoing discussions with colleagues about teaching practices and share your experiences openly. Creating a collaborative environment fosters growth and innovation in teaching methods.
- Embrace Community in Teaching: Following the insights of Lee Schulman and colleagues from the Carnegie Foundation, view teaching as a community activity. Sharing your teaching strategies and experiences helps both you and your colleagues improve and evolve as educators.
- Focus on Student Learning: Prioritize student learning over personal preferences or concerns about evaluations. Understand that the primary goal is to facilitate meaningful learning experiences that benefit students in the long term.
- Handle Criticism Gracefully: Recognize that not all student feedback will be positive. Listen with understanding and use constructive criticism to improve your teaching methods without taking it personally.
- Value Long-Term Impact: Appreciate that the true measure of your teaching effectiveness lies in the long-term application and impact on your students’ lives and careers, rather than immediate feedback or grades.
- Integrate Experience with Information: Encourage students to synthesize their experiences with new information, transforming it into actionable knowledge that can be applied in their professional practice.
- Reflect on Your Teaching: Continuously reflect on your teaching practices and seek opportunities to improve. Being self-aware and open to change is crucial for maintaining high teaching standards.
- Maintain Professionalism and Presence: Like nursing, teaching requires presence and professionalism. Understand that who you are as a person greatly influences your effectiveness as an educator.
- Balance Innovation with Tradition: While embracing new teaching methods, respect and integrate traditional practices that have proven effective. Finding the right balance can enhance your teaching repertoire.
- Foster Emotional Intelligence: Develop emotional intelligence to connect with your students, understand their needs, and create a supportive learning environment. Empathy and effective communication are key to successful teaching.
By adhering to these principles, Dr. Tanner believes that educators can create impactful and meaningful learning experiences that empower nursing students to excel both academically and professionally.