[LoveYaBabe]

Hello y'all.
I have just completed an orientation day for patient care services staff and I had to fill in for a speaker that has flaked the past two times. There are four days of orientation that are spread out throughout the month.FYI- I was able to review the material of the presenter that flaked b/c I am familiar with the subject but I didn't go into detail over every slide. By the way, the students in the class range for CNA, to srub techs to RNs so what is basic for one can be very complex for another. I then speak on my topic which I am very comfortable with and try to incorporate different teaching modalities. ( I start with power point presentation, do a hands on with the equiptment, and then have a mini simulation lab) I feel that it is good to get the group up and moving and hands on. Unfortunately when I reviewed the evaluation for the day, my reviews are so mixed. I am finding that the RN are the least favorable giving me a "fair" on the presentation (in this case it was one nurse in particular). Two reviews felt that the presentation for the other speaker was "too rushed", which it was so I am OK with that.
I guess I am posting b/c I don't know what to do to make my presentation more interesting. BTW, the other reviews were all "very good"It seems like that groups in general just want to get out of class and are not really interested in learning. There are competencies they must complete and so I do want to see the hands on and have some critical thinking (very basic).
Any suggestions? Should I just do what that other speakers to and just speak for an hour? Should I ask the students with the "fair" comments to elaborate (I know who they were) so that I may improve.
What to do???

[-MNC_RN-]

To be honest, it doesn't sound too bad. I always raise my eyebrows when I get a "Fair" since I am so used to seeing "Excellent" and "Very Good". This is not to brag, but rather to say that when I do get a "Fair", I think back at the day and see what it was that was different from my norm.

Sometimes I'm feeling under the weather, sometimes I just don't care, sometimes I realize that I was rushed, or that I wasn't able to explain the way I normally do...

In your case, I wonder (thinking out loud here) if it had something to do with the fact that it wasn't your presentation. Even when I'm familiar with the material, if I didn't actually make it, then delivery suffers. If I were in your shoes, I would see if this "flaking" was going to be happening more often, and if so--or if I just wanted to have my own personal back-up presentation--then I would make my own version, or tweak the original to better fit my thought flow and delivery style.

It sounds to me like you had a good mix of lecture and activity. There are some, though, that hate that sort of thing. Generationally speaking, the older nurses tend to like more lecture and GenX or GenY nurses tend to like more interaction and hands-on. Either way, though, what you describe sounds good to me. Sometimes, there's just no pleasing people.

Personally, I don't think you can figure it out after one or two reviews. If you get "Fair" next time, you might want to look into it more, but every class has its own personality, so you might have just got stuck with a tough one.

[santhony44]

You can make yourself crazy trying to figure out why you got particular evaluations, and trying to please everyone.

Not everyone learns the same way, so no presentation is going to be perfect for everyone in the group.

Who knows, maybe you reminded one of the orientees of her SO's ex-girlfriend or something??

[sharrie]

The one thing I hated about teaching at orientation was the reviews. I always got very good or excellent but even one fair or poor would have me in tears.

I do remember one particular group was very difficult to teach, the ones that sit there with thier arms folded glaring at you. I try to be interactive and part of what I teach is practical skills and are mandatory. Asked for volunteers to start the practicals off and noone did so after asking a further 2 times I picked people from the back row pointing out that mandatory means that they have to do it or don't get the attendence tick.

The evaluations said, bossy and rude.


Don't worry too much about it, alot of it depends on the group dynamics, and the personalities within that group. I only start to get concerned if there are repeated comments of a similar nature and scores of fair or below regualry now

In fact I wait for my boss to tell me to pull my socks up, and I haven't been told yet so I figure I can't be doing too badly

[classicdame]

I have included the phrase "if you rated this speaker "bad" or "fair" then please indicate what could have been done to improve the presentation.

If they rate low and do not elaborate I do not consider the rating valid. I feel they are probably voting on whether they enjoyed sitting there till their butt was numb.

[SoxfanRN]

Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to the evaluations. I can tell a joke one class with rave reviews then tell the same joke to another group and hear crickets chirping above the silence. Many things factor into evaluations: the variability of your group, time of presentation (after lunch or at the end of the day is rough), environment, expectations, etc. Like sharrie said, if it becomes consistent, then you should really look at what you're doing to change something. If you are new to this, you will also find it maddening when your orientees deny learning things that you know you covered.

[Otessa]

I normally look at all of the evaluations and look at the "really good" and "really bad" reviews and try to not take it personally and realize that each one may have some valid points.

otessa

[LoveYaBabe]

thanks for all of your support. yup, I want to it be GREAT and it is hard when I am trying to teach a flight nurse about a crash cart (NOT) and a person that just transferred from environmental services to patient care. Hard to please the masses. I will be sure to say at the beginning of the orientation, or at least stress the importance of comments both positive and negative. I think I was feeling extra bummed b/c of the flaker...it takes so much to organized the speakers and students and to find myself standing up there trying to read slides that don't even match the handout in their binders. Off subject a bit but when I left patient care and went to education, my co-workers asked me "What do you do there?". If they only knew...and at times,how I want to go back the safe familiar waters of direct patient care. again, I appreciate your sweet words. PS, The nursing students that I teach once a week love the hands on experiences and thrilled to have a lesson that isn't just slides projected on a screen.

[rbezemek]

LoveYaBabe,

I have been a nurse educator for a looooong time - and I feel good about telling you - IGNORE THAT FEEDBACK.

In the Education world, we use Don Kirkpatrick's 4 Levels of evaluation . Level 1= reaction; Level 2=objectives; Level 3=transfer; Level 4=organizational impact. What you are referring to is the reaction level.... very unimportant. It makes no difference if they 'like' you or not; if they 'like' the food, the room, the comfy chair - you get the drift.

The evaluations that ARE important are level 2 & 3. Level 2- did they achieve the learner objectives? Now, that is important stuff. Level 3 - were they able to do the 'stuff' they learned when they got back to their departments? That is important.

Our 'customers' are the organizational decision makers - who pay our salaries & support our departments. The participants are 'consumers' of our services. It's great if they are happy also, but don't forget that results are what matters in education.

Level 1 evals -- never read them & I never provide this info to any of my speakers unless it is good.