"Being a teacher doesn't take energy, it gives energy"

Eveline returned to HZ to teach there herself

You studied at HZ and now you work there as a lecturer Nursing. How did that go?

"I studied HBO-V at HZ and graduated in 2002. I did the dual variant, i.e. work and learn. During my studies, I worked in all kinds of departments at Lievensberg hospital. After graduating, I chose to work in psychiatry. I wanted to be able to give personal attention to patients and have conversations. After that, I worked in the addiction care department of Emergis and as a manager at SVRZ."

"An HZ colleague made me enthusiastic about the teaching profession at HZ. That's when it started. Now I work with great pleasure and enthusiasm at HZ on both the full-time and part-time Nursing courses."

What subjects do you teach?

"I teach several courses such as 'promoting healthy behaviour', 'ethical dilemmas in healthcare' and 'clinical reasoning in practice and reflection on it'. These are mainly courses that students take in the first year. Good contact with the students, personal guidance and discussion of practical examples are very important to me here. I really think we can live up to the vision of 'personal university of applied sciences'. I also get this back from students, they say they really appreciate the personal approach and cooperation."

What differences do you see between full-time and part-time courses?

"Those differences are quite big. With full-time students, you are mostly also learning the professional attitude and formation. Part-time students are already in that profession and want to move up. In that case, you are not teaching them a professional attitude, because they already have it. With part-time students, you are more concerned with depth, how to approach certain things in your work and whether you can do things differently. Part-time students actually already have a lot of knowledge. The commitment to each other is also very high; you notice that this arises from the professionalism that the part-time HBO-V student already has from practice."

How do you stay up to date in your field?

"I believe you learn throughout your life, this never stops. Keep asking questions and deepen your knowledge. Also ask colleagues for feedback, don't think you know everything by now. And regularly ask yourself why you do things the way you do, is it still the right thing to do? Innovations in healthcare follow each other rapidly, perhaps a new method works much better. The course 'quality improvement in practices' is also perfectly in line with this. Very great to see which innovations are being researched and introduced by students. In the future, I would like to do another master's programme. Which one exactly, I don't know yet. I believe it will come naturally my way, just like it has actually always been so far in my career."

What is your advice to teachers who want to start teaching in part-time courses?

"In part-time education, learning with each other is key. Share the knowledge you have with students. In the beginning, I thought; do I have anything to offer these students? They are already working in the field. But the answer is 'yes', you definitely have something to contribute to them. What my advice is: listen to what the student's questions and wishes are in his/her study progress and work from there, that's what makes it successful. Part-time is doing it together! I myself am learning a huge amount from part-time students, which I find very valuable. And another tip: enjoy it. Being a part-time teacher doesn't take energy, it gives energy."

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