RYAN ERIK HOUSE

Experienced professional with 20+ years of expertise in nursing education and administration. Collaborated with faculty and administration to deliver exceptional education and comprehensive learning experience in pre-licensure education. Skilled in providing high-quality instruction and fostering a positive academic environment. Adept at implementing innovative teaching methods and staying up-to-date with field advancements. Proven track record of effectively managing administrative tasks while prioritizing student success and program excellence.

• Each person has their own definition of teaching and learning. For me, learning is the students’ activity to gain knowledge, skills, and abilities, and attitudes. In many circumstances, instructors lead this exercise. Yet, a student should engage in learning activities inside and outside of the classroom to best prepare themselves for their career. Learning is a difficult task. Students can be overwhelmed with resources, assignments, lectures, and information overload that prevents them from getting the key pieces of information they need to be successful. Students can be underwhelmed with too little guidance from an instructor, too. Finding the right balance to promote student learning is a challenge for any instructor, but it is an area that I have worked on throughout the years and have shown growth. For example, as a new instructor, I would assign numerous chapters and homework assignments for students to complete along with their studies. I have learned over time that students do not always read assigned readings. It is my job to hone in on exactly the important chapters, passages, or even only pages that give them the basic understanding of the concept and prepares the student for class discussion and evaluation.
• Teaching is a process that involves the instructor carefully and purposefully choosing experiences and techniques that will promote the student’s success in achieving their educational goals. Teaching is an evolving process for me. I attempt to add as many hands-on experiences and real-life learning activities. At other times, I rely on PowerPoint lectures to convey the information and then use other options to make the information meaningful. For example, when I was teaching entry-level nursing practice, I often would borrow manikins and skeletons from the anatomy and physiology instructors. I would have the students manually find landmarks on the manikins to know what they were looking for, doing, and why it was important. I shifted my teaching from classroom-based explanation to intermingling classroom and skills lab learning.
• Students need multiple ways to receive knowledge, process knowledge, and express mastery of knowledge. In the right situation, when it is possible, I move away from the exam as a means of testing knowledge. In one course I regularly taught, I had each student portray a disease process (in this instance, it was mental health conditions), and they had a classmate interviewing them. They switched roles and repeated the exercise. I had them record this and turn it in as their final. I was able to assess their understanding of disease processes and also their ability to communicate therapeutically with a client in a safe setting. I had tested them during the individual units, but this allowed me to see their ability in the actual application of knowledge.
• There are two major goals for nursing students. They must be prepared for the NCLEX (licensure exam) and prepared for safe and effective practice as a licensed nurse. The student needs to have a well-rounded understanding of the nursing process and expectations of their role and how they interact with a multidisciplinary team and patient and potential family members.
• There is much consideration that the textbook-way, along with NCLEX expectations, are not always congruent with real-life nursing. Still, the student needs to learn the appropriate, evidence-based practice to formulate their own nursing practice and meld together with real-life experiences. That is the goal of teaching the next generation of nurses.
• Students need a strong, structured environment that allows them to experiment and trial their new learning. Activities in the skills lab and simulated learning allows for growth and learning from the correct methods and allows mistakes without harming a patient or the student. Case studies and learning activities in the classroom further expand their critical thinking abilities to see scenarios play out their potential positive and negative outcomes. It is important to show compassion and empathy to each student and treat them with respect without being their friend. Students need support. Nursing school is very challenging, and their support networks may not be strong, or they may not understand the stress that the student is experiencing. It is important to be a mentor and instructor by being available, giving them guidance and resources to be successful, both inside and outside the classroom.
• I am excited that I have years of experience in the classroom setting, but I am also excited that I have many more years of academia in front of me. I have grown a lot as I have taught, networked, attained my Masters of Science in Nursing Education, and am in the progress of obtaining my Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Education and Administration. I do not teach exactly the same as I did my first year, and I’m excited to know that I will keep growing, and may one day be teaching differently than I am this year. I will always seize the opportunity to go to conferences, study techniques, and read new and better ways of reaching tomorrow’s students.

Certified Nurse Educator - National League for Nursing