carolynd

I am wondering what is the best way to mentor a new instructor who has just finished a masters degree but will be teaching in the fundamental class of an associate degree program. We have trouble with them wanting to go to deep even before students have started into the med-surg content. They also want students to make connections that the student is not ready to make yet. Thank you in advance for your ideas. I really have enjoyed reading the tips you have shared.

Lippincott Williams and Wilkins has a Life Art Medical Clip Art available. Also many of the text books have accompanying CD Rom with pictures you can place in your power point. You can also google images related to health care and sometimes use these (as long as there is no copy right restrictions)

My question about uniforms is --- Do nurses today look like professionals? Can nurses be identified by patients or do we look and act like unlicensed personal. Do you think patients have more confidence in you when you wear cutsy prints? I look at other professions and they have a distinctive uniform - would you feel comfortable if the pilot on the plain wore long loose hair and scrubs. What about the police or even doctors? I think nurses need to get back into uniform - maybe not white and definately not hats but something that is uniformly distinctive for nurses. If we want to be considered a profession we should look like a professional. Our uniform could be pants or skirt but pajamas (scrubs)? At least with the white people knew who we were.

Very interesting discussion. I am not sure I understand why we are having the discussion. I belong to a community college and we have a nursing education department. The belief of the nursing faculty is to present professionalism (including dress) in the classroom. How our students attire is their business except when in clinical agencies on school business. When in clinical agencies our students are expected to be in appropriate - approved attire - this means approved uniform, dress slacks/dress with approved warm up jacket or white lab coat and photo school ID. I think the bigger issue is "do instructors need to model professionalism when in the classroom".

Generally our ADN program uses 6 hour clinicals for the first year students and 8 hour clinicals starting during the Practical Nurse summer then throughout the entire second year. In the spring of second year we do a Focused Practicum experience in which students take on the shift of their preceptor for a total of 72 hours. This preceptorship is generally the first time students have the option of a 12 hour shift. Our instructors believe student learning is reduced after 8 hours plus non of the instructors want to commit to 12 hours. On occasion, when a student is doing a community clinical (precepted) we will allow 12 hour shifts. This is simply because many of our students live up to 1 1/2 hours away from their assigned clinical site.

It has been my experience that many students need to refresh their A & P yet the curriculum is already so full I frequently see reteaching as unnecessary. I have found a focused worksheet to be helpful. Most nursing textbooks have a chapter on A & P prior to the system and that can be assigned as a part of the student reading which is not covered specifically in class. One thing for sure - we simply can't teach it all and still be effective - students must be responsible for previously learned material.

I would like to know about your experience in OB/Maternal Nursing clinical rotations.

ATI has a whole program of exams to be used throughout the major content areas. Our school uses them to provide students with more computer testing time and different questions than those developed by faculty. These content tests are used as proctored tests however, if a student does not do will on one they have up to 5 times to remediate in the content area (nonproctored). At the end of our PN summer and the end of our ADN program students are given the proctored comprehensive predictor tests. These give an excellent measurement of likely success on NCLEX. The other excellent book for review is the KAPLIN Review. This book does not review content (diseases) it reviews how to read questions, how to select priorities using Maslow, Nursing Process, & ABCs. It also helps students understand that the NCLEX test is written in a real world format where whatever you need is available.

Thank you for the responses to my question. I will follow up to each response. Any further words of advise much appreciated.

Our school has gone to competency based nursing. We have developed 5 competencies with sub elements to each competency. Students must pass each competency in order to pass the quarter. We are wondering if there is any school that does something simular. Our problem is how do we grade to keep the competency grading as objective as possible (we give a letter grade, not pass/fail). Right now I believe to much of the grade is related to writing ability and subjective analysis. Any suggestions?

our school just received the governor's award for best practice by writing, receiving, and implementing a grant, which allowed us to increase our student cohort by 12 in an alternate tract of learning. we received funding for 2 years and were able to take 24 additional students through to pn boards. our school administration committed to make it possible for all who desire to complete their adn. i am very proud of the project we did but i am quite concerned with increasing enrollment as we are at risk for having a burned out teaching staff. we are using bsn in our clinical sites as part-time instructors but there are few new masters prepared instructors for the didactic portion. our state has funded a brand new health science building so student capacity can increase but how do we attract instructors? what can be done by nursing to get the legislature to recognize the salary inequity between instructors and practicing nurses? if we loose too many instructors to retirement, burnout etc., what do you think will happen to the nursing shortage then? if you have any ideas or would like a job just respond. i truly am concerned for the future of nursing.

Because management and prioritization questions are increasing on NCLEX our school is scrambling to find resources for our students. We are looking for case studies, practical application exercises, etc. Currently we refer students to the Kaplan NCLEX review book and students have found it very helpful but we have found little to use in our classes and for testing purposes. Any of you having the same problems? We would also like to hear from other programs about how much critical care and ICU type content you carry in your curriculum. (ours is a ladder ADN program).

I believe one must have a masters to fully understand concepts of curriculum development, classroom control and basic test construction. All of these should be learned while enrolled as a masters student. You become enlightened to an entirely new world much greater than client/patient care. You begin to see the need for nurses to research their care decisions and build a professional practice based on scientific principles. A clinical instructor does not need to have a masters in nursing because they are teaching skills and time management but in the classroom we are doing so much more. I would uphold the need for a masters prepared nurse in the classroom. The bigger problem is that instructors are not paid according to their education and can work for much more than can be made in the classroom. The focus must be on reinbursement for instructors - until that time we will continue to see a dwindling shortage of instructors and without instructors we will be unlikely to meet the growing need for practicing nurses.

I do not consider myself hard but I am not easy either. I believe in taking the beginning student and helping them, using warmth and understanding, to learn the concepts of nursing. I have very firm expectations (parameters) but allow human flexability within the parameters. Keeping a student at a constant level of severe anxiety is not the way to teach. It is the way to cripple. I believe there are excellent students who will be terrific nurses and can withstand constant pressures but there are many more who will be excellent nurses but during nursing school are juggling an almost unbearable load. I want a student in the long run to be a caring and confident nurse. I want one who understands pressures and understands grace. I want one who treats myself or my family with an attitude of compassion and I cannot teach compassion if I am only a stern judge - one to be feared. I do not tolerate unprofessional behaviors, sloppy work, lateness, etc. I do allow students to fail if that is their choice but if they want to learn I will do my best to help them. That is why I am a teacher and not working for the dollars I could receive and the shorter working hours I could work if I were simply a nurse.

It always amazes me when teachers become frustrated because students don't read the text before class and are therefore unprepared for a class quiz. When I hear these complaints I begin by asking such questions as: How much have you asked the students to read? What time frame did they have to read it in? What other things were due during the same period of time (clinical prep or clinical papers). I know we have a tremendous amount of information to teach but we must look at what is necessary and what is nice to know. In my classes I am very upfront with my expectations. I have very rigid parameters but will be quite flexable within the parameters. I explain to the class that my lectures will be complete enough for them to understand the concepts. The text book is where they are to go if they are not understanding something in particular. If students will learn to skim a chapter prior to class so they can discuss in class and then read in more detail after class that suits me just fine. My quizzes are NCLEX type questions and most of the time they are considered inclass activities as I give various options for group discussion with them. No inclass activities can be made up therefore students will generally come unless a true emergency exists. When I started teaching 10 years ago I really poured it on. I'm supprised anyone passed. Now I thy to shape my lecture/discussion periods around all learning styles. It is not my goal to teach to a book or teach to a test. I would much prefer to teach to a concept and explain that if one understands the concept the questions should be approachable. If I feel like I need to review A & P I will put it out as a pre-class assignment and students will receive points for doing it. I will rarely spend time teaching A & P or Nutrition (all those required support courses). I have found the KISS principle to be very helpful. I tell as many stories as possible to reinforce a learning point, I use humor as often as possible and most of all I remember a small quote one of my students gave me. The quote was on a little shrink wrapped washcloth folded in the shape of a star. It said - place me in warm water and watch me grow. It is my desire to place my students in a warm learning environment and I love to watch them grow. It is true not all will succeed and I may be the first to help redirect their efforts but as an instructor my job is to be their facilitator of knowledge - I choose to be an educator and watch my students grow with as little pressure from me as I can. I am interested in learning how much critical care, cardiac, respiratory you all have in your programs (ADN level). I am also interested in finding methods instructors have used to teach community, leadership, prioritization, and professional development.

I am a nursing instructor and know what it will take for you to go through a nursing program. It sounds to me like starting nursing is not a really great idea for you at this time. Maybe I miss it but I was wondering if you are considering a two year program or a four year program? When we see students feeling much like you we encourage them to consider a short break - even a year. It will do little for you to ruin your health just to learn how to protect or improve the health of others. When you start nursing school you need to have all support courses completed and finances arranged. You need to have a support system in place and then you need to bond with your classmates. I would also encourage you to talk with your care provider and possibly receive some chemical support for your current situational depression. The bottom line of depression can be a terminal event so get the help you need, sooner than later.