Presentation to kindergarteners as a Community Helper

[Nurse92680]

I was asked to present to about 60 kindergartners about being a community helper as a nurse. It's supposed to be 20-30 minutes, including answering questions. What do I talk about that will hold their attention? I work at a hospital as an ED nurse, ideas? Fun things to tell them, anything would help!

[pro-student]

Wow, that's a long time and a lot of kindergartners!

I would do something like talk about what you do when using a hypothetical pt (ideally a kid around their age). "Timmy fell off the swing and hurt his arm..." Obviously avoid anything too graphic but something emergent so they don't go home thinking they need to go to the ER for everything. Focus on the things you would do to help a child - keep their parents with them, tell them what you are doing so they won't be scared, anything you have for distraction peds pts. Wear scrubs and a stethoscope. See if you could bring in any equipment to show them. Demonstrate taking a BP, pulse ox, ECG, anything you can get your hands on. Maybe teach them some very basic first aid like what to do if they get a cut or scrape. Make a mini first aid kit if you could (band-aids, neosporin in a ziplock bag).

[OldDude]

Your task is not possible. Don't accept the mission.

[cleback]

I like both previous posts... while I think the advice given by the first poster is great, there ain't no way you're going to hold their attention for 20 minutes.

[KerBearKer]

Our ED presents every year to kindergarten classes. We do a teddy bear clinic. You won't hold their attention by just speaking for 20 minutes, but if you're interacting with them, they'll stay dialed in to you. We read them a book about what goes on in a hospital (it is usually the Berenstain Bears or Little Critters), then we give a brief overview about our roles as RNs in the ED. We bring a couple of rolls of gauze, and some stickers, then invent a couple of injuries for the teddies and fix them up. After that we do a q&a. It goes quickly and they do remain pretty focused, and they really enjoy it. We ask them questions along the way to keep them engaged (can you raise your hand if you've ever needed to go to the emergency room?) so if you're worried about keeping their attention, I'd suggest making it as interactive as possible through little questions like that. Good luck, I hope it goes well and that you enjoy it.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

Your task is not possible. Don't accept the mission.

^^ This. 100% this.

[LostMyPen,RN, BSN]

I've done this before. Was actually not as complicated as I had feared. I got the glow paint, a dark shoe box, and black light and talked to them about germs and hand washing. put the paint on and show them how much glow paint is left after they washed their hands. I did 5 groups of 4 kids at a time. Surprisingly the teachers had the poorest hand washing technique.

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

If you emphasize that it's best to take good care of yourself to be a community helper, you can use 10 of those 20 minutes for a movement break. Basically, bring some jamming tunes and do some "kinder-robics" with them. (Do the didactic first, of course...)