Q and A with an Education Champion: Megan Fockler
Megan Fockler, RN, has worked at Sunnybrook in Labour and Delivery for 7 years. She began under the New Grad Initiative in the Women & Babies Program and hasn’t left. Megan, who works also in the Women & Babies High Risk Outpatient Clinic, was awarded a clinical teaching award from the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto.
We caught up with Megan about her role as an educator.
What do you like the most about your job? The greatest thing about my job is working with women and families: providing care during and after pregnancy, teaching, and sharing in their birth experiences. I love nursing because of the flexibility and opportunities it offers. There are always opportunities for learning so you can be better at what you do. I also find the work very meaningful, which I think is important.
What is clinical teaching? I think clinical teaching is a partnership where two people work together to improve the knowledge, skills, and confidence of the student with respect to their clinical practice. It’s often a two-way street, and requires trust, patience, solid communication, and ideally some expertise on the part of the teacher.
How does it feel to receive a clinical teaching award? When my students first told me that they nominated me for the award, I was a little emotional! It was very humbling to know that they took time out of their busy lives to do something so kind, and to know that I had made a positive impact on their learning experience. When I heard I won, I was of course excited. It was really amazing to be formally recognized for something that I love doing.
What do you think it takes to be a good and effective clinical teacher? I have been fortunate to have some excellent clinical teachers and mentors in my own learning process. The ones I remember most created a safe place for learning by treating me as an individual, and providing learning opportunities that were congruent with my learning style. They were also life-long learners, always updating their knowledge and expertise and functioning within best-practice guidelines. They allowed for repetition and provided encouragement and helpful feedback, and were excellent communicators. They also loved the nursing profession and were passionate about their work. I think all these qualities and strategies are important for being a good and effective clinical teacher, and I strive to include them in my own practice. It’s also very helpful to be kind and to be willing to learn from your students. I try to be approachable; this helps with the partnership concept.
What advice do you have for other educators, preceptors or mentors at Sunnybrook and beyond? Continue to learn. There’s no better way to understand what a student is experiencing than being a student yourself! It’s also important to recognize your own learning style/preferences, and to be aware that not every student will be the same. It’s sometimes hard to connect with a student that has a different learning style, and to create opportunities that will help them be successful, especially in a group setting. The Nursing Education Department offers a great workshop for new preceptors that covers this topic and offers strategies. I also suggest trying to create learning experiences for students that help them to understand the broader picture (i.e. – shadowing another profession, spending a day in another unit, etc.). Because Sunnybrook has so many students/learners, get this in place very early! Finally, tell them at the start that they are responsible for their own learning, and then talk frequently about the process. In clinical teaching, finding the balance between doing too much yourself and throwing them to the proverbial wolves can be challenging. I find the more I know about what the student is doing and thinking by talking with them, the easier it is to know how you can best support them.
