Registered nurse buddies: educators by proxy?

The informal clinical teaching role of the buddy nurse seems to be a uniquely Australian title, with little consistency in terminology for informal nurse educator roles internationally. Not all registered nurses are professionally developed for the informal role of facilitating the clinical learning of students in clinical settings, yet these roles are expected by nursing professional bodies. In Australia the registered nurses (RN) experience of being a buddy nurse has been reported as lacking clarity, being unsupported and structureless. Whist there is a plethora of literature published about formal RN educator roles, little is available on the informal buddy nurse role. A view of the buddy nurse role in reference to the limited but available literature in the Australian context is offered in this paper. International perspectives are also gathered describing informal clinical education RN's roles with similar responsibilities to the Australian buddy nurse. The significance of this dialogue is to ignite debate about the role, potentially informing policy for the improved support of the role within the Australian nursing landscape.