I remember my educational experience during my ADN program. I lived in fear everyday during clinical rotations. The instructors that stood out in my mind were the kind and understanding human beings who valued teaching and more importantly facilitated learning. The few instructors that I feared were not approachable. They were task oriented. The primary focus was on the task being accomplished.

I began to see the changes in the educational process during my BSN program. The focus was on critical thinking. And my instructors were promoting education for all nurses at the highest level. I felt that my experience assisted me to be more confident. As I had worked as a nurse for nearly 8 years prior to obtaining my BSN.  I was already promoted to Charge Nurse. My instructors guided me to be a more professional leader. The ability to completely assess the patient wholly gave me the full understanding to be student centered.

By the time I was in my MSN program, the focus was different yet improved once again. Hot topics were: Evidence based practice, Cultural Competence, Not only student focused yet, individualized learner forcused. I learned a tremendous amount from working with children with Autism and sitting in during special needs classes. The most important take home message for me was that education is ever changing. The changes are continuous improvement. The improvement in education allows those of us with cultural and special needs to be included in the learning process and treated equally. Persons with disabilities were able to obtain higher education degrees with confidence that they would be able to be an asset and accessible in the job market.

Quality of education has become the forerunner. Obtaining certification in all industries is now encouraged. In nursing, education at the highest level and obtaining certification in a specific specialty is not only promoted yet often required. Accelerated programs are enticing to those who are self motivated and serious about starting their career expediently.

My personal experiences with the ADN, BSN, MSN and the transition to online education has been an amazing journey. In order to educate others, learning must be on a continuoum.

Mae Qushair-Sakhel MSN BSN ADN RN

MQushair-Sakhel@westcoastuniversity.edu

mqushair@gmail.com