EmmaSwan47

Softball - LOL are you sure we arent the same person... I also have a Pharm final (and a clinical management final) and then I start my independent study for the summer. Are you in an NP program? What is your independent study in?

Has anyone else done this? Any suggestions? Goals? Objectives? I just want more clinical in a different area, but in order to do this I have to write my own course and course objectives and I have never done this before! Any help would be appreciated!

Hello, I am currently in the middle of an adult program and realizing that more likely than not, I really did not choose the right program. My goals, and the goals of the program are very very different right now which is leading to alot of stress. I should have chosen an acute care program which is what I want to do when I am done... but I am stuck now I guess. When I started this program, I was told I could make my clinicals fit my needs... now I find out....they lied! LOL! So anyways, if I survive and graduate... I know I can do the inpatient job I am looking at when I am done with my Adult NP degree... but what would I have to do to sit for the acute care NP exam? Go back to school and do another program? Could I sit for the exam based on clinical hours and experience? Or am I just being dumb? Thanks, Emma

I am working on preparing clinical for the upcoming semester for Med Surg II clinicals. I have prepared some good presentations for post conference (1 to 1.5 hours), but I am struggling to come up with any more. Just curious if anyone has any great ideas.. thought I would poke the masses and see what you thought! Thanks, Emma

As an educator myself, and adjunct faculty I have to say that ultimatelt YES you should have your MSN, but I think it is okay to accept nurses who are on process with their degrees. I feel that when a nurse decided to enroll in an advanced degree, they are taking the nursing profession more seriously and gaining new and useful information. Even though I am in an APNP program, I still gain information that I can share with students. I am experienced in what I teach, and I think that is what makes the difference. Students respect me, and ultimately they REALLY dont know the difference bewteen and MSN and a BSN nurse, in fact thay ask me all of the time what the RN, BSN, PCCN stands for on my nametag and when they realize I dont have an MSN, I dont think they respect me any less. But, I think clinical instructors especially should be currently practicing and be an expert in their field. Although I currently teach in med-surg (I am a cardiac specialist) I have worked there in the past and can translate my knowledge to a teachable format. You can have all of the knowledge about, but you if you cannot teach in a way that people learn, it doesnt matter whar degree you have! :) Emma

wow, that is a long time to give medications. perhaps the instructor could go through the process of giving the meds first and check understanding of the moa later in the clinical. i agree with you that maybe there should not be any questions about other things until the meds are passed. i am suprised that the nurses in the facility are not up in arms. my first 2 weeks as a clinical instructor, it took me 2 hours to get 8 students 0800 meds done. i started at 0730 and got done at 0930. by 0900 i had nurses complaining to me about the need to get the meds done. it is important because if they get the med again later in the day, this could mess up the dosing. anyways, if she is a new instructor, give her time! just be patient! hugs, emma :balloons:

i agree that lecture may not be the most beneficual way to deliver information, but i feel it is effective if the lecturer realizes that they must work to keep it from being boring. [color=#9acd32] [color=#9acd32]i have had instructors where all they do is read from slides, then it is boring. when i lecture, i make it a point to give more information than the slide has. i also include little stories, patient care examples, and ask questions. students are used to be my crazy way of describing things, and say that it helps them remember. lecture can be fun and educational, if we choose to take the effort to make it that way. [color=#9acd32] [color=#9acd32]that being said, we do have alot of online classes and i think they are also beneficial! [color=#9acd32] [color=#9acd32]hugs to all, [color=#9acd32]emma :balloons:

supringly, it hasnt been that difficult to adapt to being faculty where i graduated from. i only graduated 3 years ago, so all of the teachers are the same. thank goodness i made a good impression and i was a good student. some of the oldest faculty members do not act like they respect me, but then again some people are very helpful. it is also nice because everything that the students have been through, i have been through. i understand the program well because it has not changed much. one thing i have noticed on here is when people are talking about mentorship. i do not know why, but i have not had anyone checking in on me at all. is that because they have confidence in me or what? i have a few fellow faculty that i am friendly with, but i am rarely asked about my classes. i wonder why this is? hugs to all, emma :balloons:

i am working on grading my clinical students, and i am struggling. i know what grade i think they deserve, but i find it hard to put those reasons down on paper. also, i have some very aggressive students who clearly believe that they are a students and i do not think so. i have had a great group of students this year... but it just always the grading thing that i find so hard. can one of the more experience instructors guide me in the right direction... i would be thankful for life! thanks, emma :balloons:

i am a young instructor, with not as many years of nursing expereince, but my student do not know this. i get compliments often about how much they like that i am current with practice and can actually speak about patient-care expereinces that i have had over the years. i work 4 shifts a month to keep my skills up and let me tell you, it helps. recently i switched to teaching a new floor. the nurses were not real nice the first few weeks. soon after that, they realized that i was a helpful and did have clinical skills and started coming to me with questions and iv starts (i am the iv queen) this was before student could start them, so alot of times they watched. when we got to the area in the semester when they could try it, they verbalized that they felt more comfortable because they had watched me do it. i also do the nurse leader, but i have them supervise their peers. one clinical student is the leader for the day. this is the first time i have done this, but the response was great and i will continue this in the future. some students were hesitant about it, but all agree that it was a valuable experience. i love this list, i learn so much by listening to others. yes, students do things slow (slower than i expected when i started teaching) but i just hold my hands to avoid reaching in and give them their time. i was hesitant about my group this time, because they were the slowest, but they grew so much!! take care to all, emma:balloons:

Just wanted to let you know that I am in the same boat that you are. I am teaching Junior Clinicals this semester for the first time ever. I am enjoying it alot, but the students are very challenging at times. It can get very tiring, but as cheesy as it is to admit, what keep me going is that I LOVE my job and I LOVE teaching them. I like it when they get it, when they finally put together the Patho on the condition and understand why we learn these things. Anyways, if you would ever like to chat, I would love to chat with you :) Emma

Sounds like we have mahy things in common. I working with my clinical student this semester, I have had many patients ask me how old I am and am I really the instructor. On one hand, yes I look young, but it is still embarassing. I have 2 non-traditional older student out of my clinical group, and I have had no problem with them no respecting me. I feel that all of my student respect me because regardless of my age, I am still a nurse and for the time being I know more than they do. They may have book knowledge, but I have lived experience. I have beenn in healthcare for many years prior to being a nurse, so I usually try to avoid answering the direct question about how long I have been a licensed nurse. I usually say I have been in health care for nine years and then talk about the areas in health care I have worked. Most people have never questioned my credentials. I feel that if you appear to know what you are talking about, your age or your years of experience is not as issue to the students... now the other older instructors... that is another story. I graduated from the same program that I now teach for, and the majority of the teachers are the same. I am also currently enrolled in the masters NP program at the same college that I teach for the undergrad, so you can see where that would be exciting. I will never forget going to the faculty meeting and a former undergrad instructor was speaking me as a colleage and then mentioned that she was teaching my grad class for the spring... its a fine line and it can be frustrating. For example, when I am on campus for classes I never come in non professional clothes, because I am always running into students... it just wouldnt look right if i was wearing sweatpants :) Feel free to contact me any time... I could use some friends who are in the same situation that I am! Emma

I am a young nurse educator, well under the age of 30, with a BSN program. I am currently enrolled in a NP program, and I never thought I wanted to teach. My question is, are there any other educators my age out there, and if so how to you differentiate yourself from the students. Sometimes I feel that even though I am the professional, because of the age similarities students feel they can confide in me more. It is not an issue with their studies, they are performing well, but experienced older staff see me as too laid back and friendly. Thanks for your time, Emma

I teach study sessions for students and interestingly enough, the ones who are failing arent even coming. I even offered another study session at a different time and sent an email inviting the students and some still havent repsonded. I agree, you cant save all the whales. I have to work with some of the nurses that barely passed, and probably barely passed boards and they can be dangerous... but regardless I always wanna save all the whales!! :)

I also use Brunner and Suddharth's textbook and I love it :)