Identities and roles through clinician-educator transitions: A systematic narrative review

Objective: To synthesise the literature exploring nurse and other clinicians' conceptualisations and experiences of roles and identities as they transition to educator positions and to identify facilitators/barriers to, and conse-quences of, successful transitions. Design: A systematic narrative review of empirical research reporting clinician-educator transitions was con-ducted from database inception to December 2020. Data sources: Our search employed ERIC, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, Ovid MEDLINE (R) Plus, ERIC (ProQuest), and Sociological Abstracts (ProQuest). We used search terms and synonyms relating to 'identity', 'role' and 'transitions'. Review methods: Using the PRISMA protocol for systematic reviews, we reviewed titles and abstracts for inclusion, then used the Critical Appraisal Skills Program tool to evaluate article quality. We extracted evidence from included articles, synthesising data thematically by exploring similarities and differences between studies. Results: We screened 2753 articles. 23 studies (across 25 articles) matched our inclusion criteria, 20 of which included nursing clinician-educator transitions. We identified four themes describing clinician-educator transi-tions: (i) multiple ways of conceptualising roles and identities, (ii) clinician-educator transitions as complex, emotion-laden processes, (iii) personal, interpersonal, and organisational facilitators and barriers of clinician -educator transitions, and (iv) positive and negative consequences of clinician-educator transitions. Conclusion: Our review supports deeper understandings of transition processes that can be used by organisations to better support clinicians as they adapt to their new educator roles and identities.

Automated summary

This systematic review explored the conceptualizations and experiences of nurse and other clinicians as they transition to educator positions, and identified facilitators/barriers and consequences of successful transitions. The review highlighted the importance of understanding the transition processes for organizations to provide better support to clinicians in their new roles and identities as educators.