While exciting, staff nurses may find themselves overwhelmed by the transition to a nurse educator role. The nurse educator role is pivotal in many organizations. With the increased advances in medical protocols and complexity in medical technology, more organizations find themselves in an increased need for nurse educators to support the novice nurse in the field. Nurse educators may find themselves in the midst of juggling multiple priorities to meet the needs of their organizations.
As we think of the juggler throwing the balls up in the air, we can think of the multiple roles new nurse educators encounter during their daily routine. While these are all separate roles, together these make part of the nurse educator as a whole. As the nurse educator juggles them all, it is important to keep in mind that the nurse educator has to switch on these different “hats” or roles, whether the coach, lecturer, quality control person, academician or individual. These juggling balls may also represent different tasks the educator may be presented with during the course of the shift, day, week or school term.