The teacher-student relationship: the heart of nursing education

This author has witnessed many nurses entering the university unhappy, feeling an outside pressure (e.g., the nursing profession) rather than a personal need, to do so. Nurses return to school often at great personal expense, adding one more role to an already full family and work life. Most nurses study part-time, and do not necessarily have the support of their peers in the workplace as they embark on this journey. A tradition of expecting authority, and a technical training background are added to the factors that create a profile which is not atypical of a returning-to-school nurse. Assisting these nurses to continue to grow and to flourish as nurses, as learners, and as persons involves a reframing of the process and the products of learning. Teaching must become a process of evoking possibilities and meaning for the individual student, while validating and using the richness of the experience that the student brings to the setting.