Post clincal conference topic ideas

[vickie0117]

Does anyone have ideas for post clinical conference for an ADN program. I kind of just went with whatever I could come up with with my last group of students, but would like something more structured this time around. I have a few ideas, but not exactly sure how to set them up at this time. If I can get through this week (2 days of post clinical, and I have something for one day), I will have spring break to get the last ones set up. I am new to this, so any help would be greatly appreciated

Vickie

[lepew]

Puggy Mae, I would love to hear more of your alternative teaching ideas. I have been saying we need more interaction and with todays tech savvy students, we need more involvement. Just lecturing while they sit does not work..

I would love some suggestions from you.

I teach in a LVN program...

Shari

[showbizrn]

i had to make small changes over the course of time to get away from lecturing.

one of the first things i did was make my course "web-enhanced." i posted all of my lecture notes, outlines, power points on-line. that way the students had the "lecture material" and did not have to try to take notes. i could do demonstrations, show films, take them on field trips without losing "lecture time.

then i started adding small student projects. my pharmacology course made drug commercials. i picked the group members, they drew a drug out of a hat, made the commercial, and i uploaded it to the web-site. i gave them objectives, and told them that the commercial had to be suitable to show to a sunday school class full of grandma's! some of the commercials were so funny that we were holding our sides, crying with laughter while we watched them.

another small project was having each student pick three topics and make a trifold presentation board about each topic. the topics were picked the first day of class, and the due dates were assigned. i did not lecture on these topics. the students were told what content needed to be covered and told that their peers were counting on them to cover it. most of them were awesome, of course there are always a few students who try to get away by doing the least amount of work possible. i have found them to be the exception rather than the rule.

now in all of my courses the students teach 98% of the content. they are responsible for generating information sheets (takes the place of lecture notes), power points, giving me questions to add to my ever growing test bank of questions, and teaching the information either through games, demonstrations, videos that they make, role playing - you name it.

in the beginning the students were reluctant to change from lecture to alternative methods. now everyone has heard what to expect in my classroom and they rarely complain (because it doesn't do any good ).

let me know if you want more ideas!

puggymae, you're a blessing to nursing education. i'd love to share more of your ideas---it would help me tremendously. let's talk.

[AOx1]

I've actually found more interest from the students in a pre-conference of sorts. They are given their assignments, listen to report, and perform a brief physical assessment. They then report back to the conference room. There, they will look at references and discuss together with classmates and me what their priorities of care should be. They learn to assess the patient in a targeted and relevant manner, and immediately apply their knowledge. This gives them a chance to learn new things right away, and assess anything they may have missed. One of the students came racing back from a patient with hydrocephalus to tell me they had felt the "cracked pot" feeling over the child's sutures, and how they would prep the child and family for VP shunt placement. They knew what labs to look at, and why. They got to learn and teach more this way, and I check on them throughout the day to see how the plan is going. They discuss the potential plan with the patient and the nurse to get feedback, and then discuss briefly at the end of the day how things went and mention any needed changes.

We have also done "grand rounds" where the students present to a small group of classmates their patient, what their care consists of, and how well it's working. Of course, the patient needs to agree to this.

I've also let them suggest topics, and this last semester they requested more info in blood administration, lab interpretation, and certain meds.

The senior students love doing NCLEX style questions, and I have asked them to make a mini-presentation of three minutes or less on a topic of their choice, give us the most important info, and give their classmates an NCLEX style mini-quiz for prizes (which I supply). We play a lot of games for silly prizes.

Sometimes I may select a topic and ask them to apply it to their patient (ex- pain, oxygenation, etc).

They also enjoy practicing giving report to each other on their patients, and their classmates have a chance to give them constructive feedback (ex- on how quickly they deliver report, how comprehensive it is, etc)

A student suggested to me on the student forum that they would like the chance to practice calling the doctor or other primary provider. This semester I plan to sit with my student (who will have access to the chart) and ask them what the most likely potential problem is for this patient, then ask them to pretend to call the doctor. I will ask them questions (ex- for a hemorrhaging patient, what is the H&H, bp, hr, mental status, etc) and then they will find the information needed. This gives them a chance to do this skill.

We do a lot of simulations and demonstrations, and also have experts come talk to the students when possible.

I also look up cases that are in litigation (online) or cases I remember that have gone to risk management and ask the students what could have been differently, and how the case violated nursing standards of safe practice.

I also like for them to do a very informal change project in their senior year- they look for something at the hospital that needs to change, research current literature, and give a brief presentation (ex- which hand sanitizer should you use? where should dispensers be placed).

[meme2]

this is great, lots of ideas. I agree that it is good to allow the students to do some self directing in there program. Gives them ownership and hence put more effort and learn more from each other.

You have really put so much into this. I also like to 'have fun' and am trying to come up with a 'jeopardy' type of game for the bi weekly test reviews but didn't know how to do prizes or scores for the teams.

I will use many of your ideas.

[AOx1]

There is a jeopardy powerpoint template. Try googling it. I may be able to find the link to it once my email isn't acting up! I have it stored in there. for prizes, my students LOVE pens, highlighters, etc. I get a ton of them cheaply off ebay and from conferences/conventions.

[ceecel.dee, MSN, RN]

I have the students pocket the packaging of every med they give, and they quiz the rest of the students on the med in post-conference after they speak about the pathophys, the s/sx and labs, etc. Then they all are asked about a mistake they made that day...and this is usually a funny story ("the last pill package was so hard to push the pill through that I projected the whole cup with all the pills against the wall scattering them everywhere!" or, "I had to walk back to the laundry cart 3 times just to get the bed made properly!") and I find students really like to hear that they are all doing something clumsy or disorganized, and they all loosen up a bit (this is especially beneficial after the first clinical day)! They are also asked to state one nursing behavior that they observed that was admirable and one that was not, so they start to visualize what kind of a nurse they want be and to behave like.

[GretaRN]

What is a great help to students is to reinforce what is being taught in theory....

[sunnysideup09]

I definitely agree that the clinical instructor should be in contact with the theory instructor. I tailor my post conference ideas to what the students were lectured on and topics that I know will be helpful for their exams.

[Algardner76]

Hello to my nursing commrades! I am a second year, 4th quarter clinical instructor and am looking for post conference ideas that will not put the students to sleep. I am looking for fun, interactive, even kooky ideas are very welcomed. Perhaps it is different for everyone, but I do know that I learned from some of the strangest instuctors, weird stories...etc, and THAT is what stayed with me after 12 years of nursing.

4th quarter involves 3-4 weeks of pediatrics and 6-7 weeks of oncology/med/surg. My students would rather be branded with hot irons than to sit through case studies and boring discussions after spending 8-9 hours on the unit. I am into creating, scrapbooking, writing...etc, if this helps you to come up with ideas!

:bowingpurThank you for ANYTHING that you might send. I am helping to direct tomorrow's RN's and I want this to be a memorable learning experience.

[vashtee, RN]

I know with my program, we never got any lecture specifically on labs. I don't know how to make it fun, but I would have loved getting something in this area.

[Oz2]

My students would rather be branded with hot irons than to sit through case studies and boring discussions after spending 8-9 hours on the unit. I am into creating, scrapbooking, writing...etc, if this helps you to come up with ideas!

Dx, it's great you want to make it interesting for the students. You must be a good teacher! Truthfully though, the things you mention are the last thing I would want to do after spending a full day on the unit. At the end of my clinical day I am tired and those things require energy! Did your students tell you they don't like discussing each other's cases?...or are you assuming that by their tired faces? I actually really enjoy hearing how my fellow students' day went. We don't do in-depth case studies, but talk about anything that was significant to us during the day, like a disease process or interaction with a patient or questions, etc. I always learn something from others this way, and it's a nice way to wind down and wrap up the day. The last thing I would want to do is more work after working all day.

[geocachingRN]

My second term CL was the bane of my existence AND I learned more from her than any other CL! One thing she did was invite the President of the Hospital in for a meet and greet. That was great. Helped to make management more real. In this job market, consider inviting HR up and discuss what the hospital is looking for in an application. (Where I live there is no nursing shortage!)

Wish me luck I take the NCLEX on Thursday