[LoveYaBabe]

I am new to being an instructor but I remember those horrible day of being a student. I teach a very brief pediatric rotation and I tell you, the students look wiped out after a 8 hour day. When we get to post conference...I am at a lost for direction. I plan to talk about one thing (ie development) but we end up talking about something else which is fine by me. I learn from post conference probably more than the students but what I learn in more the process over factual information.
I would like to know from students, what do you gain from post conference and what suggestions would you have to give a new nurse instructor?

thanks for your feedback

Cali teacher

[APBT mom]

We use our post conference as a vent for the day. We all say one good thing and one bad thing (if something bad did happen) during our "shift". Then we ask any questions that we have and say good night.
I think it's really helpful to us because when we get our little mini vent at the end of the night the instructor lets us know what we could have done in that situation or will try to resolve a problem that we may have had with the nursing staff on the floor.

We had a sub instructor a couple of weeks ago and she gave us a 45 min quiz on what would you do scenarios that we couldn't answer because 1. we had no idea what she was talking about because we hadn't learned it yet and 2. we were so tired because the floor was very busy that night that we really weren't interested in what she was saying. At the end of the night critical thinking is over.

[MB37]

First of all, thanks for asking! I'm only in my first semester of clinicals, but we also use post-conference as kind of a vent session. "What is said in post-conference stays in post-conference," we were told. However, if any of us were paired with a preceptor who made it clear they didn't want to help us (which only happened to one person), it gets tactfully mentioned to their charge nurse so he/she can keep an eye out the next time that nurse is assigned a student. We also get something to "focus on" in pre-conference or via e-mail (today it was getting health histories from out patients), and we go around and discuss what we found out. Definitely let your students say at least a brief bit about their day in general before moving on to the topic of the day, and don't make it a high-pressure environment (tests, etc.).

[Soup Turtle]

Our instructor uses it as a time for us to share the experiences we had that day. She also reviews future plans, due dates, etc. and gives us general career/ dealing with people advice. I enjoy post conference and I think most of my classmates do, too.

[Achoo!]

We also discuss our patients, and what happened throughout the shift. We then focus on one thing. This last conference we discussed fluid volume depletion vs. excess. We discussed what the differences would be when comparing assessments and labs, such as pulses, RR, edema, sodium levels etc..
We go over labs alot- what would cause elevations versus decreases.
We may discuss pathology of a certain thing- such as renal failure and how that affects the body. We typically pick one disease process and go from there. It's great to delve that deep into one thing and it really helps connect the dots so to speak.

[LoveYaBabe]

thanks for the imput. I like the idea of connecting the dots. I have presented information to students (example, why is the pt on that med like a psychotropic) and many times it appears the student did not absorb all the diagnosis or mediacations. . WHen they return the next week it then hits them to tie it all together and then they share with me examples of what their pt. said or did. I love seeing the 'light' turn on but after a long clinical day, the power is somewhat drained.

Cali girl

[Achoo!]

Oh yes! As my instructor told me, " I love watching the wheels spin in your head."
I may not like it so much at the time, but I am so grateful as the lights are contsantly going on now!

[Bonny619]

I love that our post conference is in the middle of the day. It really breaks up the 12 hour shift.

[DaFreak71]

It's totally awesome that you are looking for feedback from students!

In our clinicals, we do a pre and a post conference. The night before clinical (ours are during the day) we have to go to the hospital and examine the patient chart. We then have to make a daily plan of what we are going to do for our particular patient that day, we have to include what their med dx is, our nursing dx, meds they are on and why, also what to watch out for in our patients condition or the adverse reactions of the meds.

In post conference, we each give a brief description of our patient (again) and share any information that made us learn something. But the very best post conference that my group EVER had was this:

We got to ask the instructor questions about what to do if a nurse doesn't want to help us, how to handle difficult patients, how to handle our emotions if our patients are critically ill, what to expect on the job and how it will be different from clinical. It was so helpful because it lowered our stress level and it made us feel like we were being prepared to be "real" nurses. We talked for days and days about how great that post conference was.

One time I had a patient that was crying because he was so depressed due to being hospitalized several times over a short period of time with COPD. I actually shed tears when talking to him and later I worried that I was being unprofessional. During that post conference I was assured that as long as I am concentrating on the PATIENT, and not crying for MYSELF, it was not unprofessional. Made me feel a lot better about myself.

[locolorenzo22]

My instructor understands that we're WIPED out after taking a 8 hr shift....we're done with the stress and just want to go home, eat, and nap....so postconference is usually a time where we vent, discuss stories from the day, and ask about care if one of us had a "different" (from the everyday) kind of client.
She also lets us use the online college system to send our clinical goals and make our evaluations about the day...and give us feedback, much nicer than the writing system.