Clinical Instructor in need of suggestions

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Trauma/Nursing Education.

I'm a recent graduate and newly hired clinical instructor at a community college. Looking for advice or recommendations on group activities related to maternal nursing to help keep my students engaged and to help them use critical thinking. I have arranged for them to watch some videos, and they will have simulation with the mannequins. We'll have 2 days in clinical each week so any help is appreciated!

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Sounds like you have some good strategies.  I think working some case studies in small groups is a good way to do some critical thinking about scenarios they likely won't see in the clinical setting

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Trauma/Nursing Education.

While I prefer group activities,  COVID-19 has placed limitations on that. Several students worry about getting too close to one another. I'm searching for some online nurse games now. That may keep them engaged and they wouldn't need get to close to each other to participate. Any suggestions on websites?

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Specializes in oncology.

I use to do an online Jeopardy game. There are computer prototypes for that following a power point format. The most enthusiastically received activity was just dividing the group into small groups, reading a question, and having the group write the answer on paper. They can confer and decide on a group answer.  Make the questions tougher, more discussion etc. Kind of like a 'Trivia Adult Game' or a 'Pub Quiz". You can have some questions with lab work etc.

 

Another activity is to give each group a list of questions to respond to on paper. When they are done, they 'signal'..I use to give flyswatters for them to swat when they were done. The questions have to be difficult and involve discussion among the group. When they signal they are done...they are done. Points for right answers are tabulated -- being done early doesn't mean they are all right.

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Specializes in Mental health, substance abuse, geriatrics, PCU.

Okay, I'm gonna sound like a stick in the mud, but here's my opinion, and bear in mind I am NOT an educator so my opinion doesn't count for much.

I realize that activities are popular tools by educators because they are supposed to make people feel "engaged" but I find a LOT of activities are cringeworthy. I don't want to play games, I don't want prizes, I want you to tell me what I need to know, show me what I need to do, and let me go about my day to process the information. Videos are fine, but they should be kept short or else they can be a snooze fest. Using mannequins to simulate skills, scenarios, etc is great can encourage team work and gets students to thinking. One type of activity that I had some instructors utilize was to put students in the role of the patient for example in our psych class the instructor had us wear headphone and had purchased a program that simulate auditory hallucinations and while we were listening we had to complete tasks in mathematics, reading comprehension, etc and the purpose was to give us a taste of what it's like to live and learn with schizophrenia. That was pretty cool. Had one instructor in fundamentals who had us try nectar and honey thickened liquids, juice, water, milk, soda, as well as pureed foods to give us a feeling of what it's like to have to adhere to that type of diet. I knew a physician that told me when he was in med school and they were covering pelvic exams their professor made all the men get up in stirrups in order to feel how exposed women can feel during pelvics. Now that might not be wise in todays world but I daresay it was effective in eliciting empathy ?

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
8 hours ago, TheMoonisMyLantern said:

I knew a physician that told me when he was in med school and they were covering pelvic exams their professor made all the men get up in stirrups in order to feel how exposed women can feel during pelvics. Now that might not be wise in todays world but I daresay it was effective in eliciting empathy ?

When we practice lithotomy positioning for our new OR nurses, if there’s a male in the cohort he’s the one going up in stirrups ??‍♀️. So far they’ve all been good sports about it and admit to the eye opening experience. Plus, we do put males in lithotomy fairly frequently. 

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Trauma/Nursing Education.

We had a PPH (postpartum hemorrhage) simulation scenario today and the students really enjoyed it. The role reversal scenario is a good idea and I'm sure they'd get a kick out of it! I found a ppt for online jeopardy but we'll probably do that on the last day of clinical as a fun refresher.

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Specializes in NICU.

The case studies in the chapters of Kenners Book on neonatal nursing,also role play counseling the nursing mother, read out loud parts of LLL book ,discuss pro cons of circumcision,how to support the parent of either view.Discuss what is an OB visit like,when ,how often.

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Specializes in NICU.
On 1/30/2021 at 5:39 PM, Smooth Sailing RN said:

While I prefer group activities,  COVID-19 has placed limitations on that. Several students worry about getting too close to one another. I'm searching for some online nurse games now. That may keep them engaged and they wouldn't need get to close to each other to participate. Any suggestions on websites?

How about a zoom session with a real nurse,show and tell,or ask questions from a nurse that has experience in those areas.

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The instructors at the college I attended used Kahoot! for the quiz games. 

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