is this typical nurse education?

I've just finished the fourth week of my RN programme, and am really enjoying it. We go out on placement in mid-November and we're getting a mixture of straight A&P, practicals in the skills lab covering everything from beds to safe manual handling/no lifting etc. and lectures on hygiene, professional behaviour etc. etc.

What's surprised me is that we're also getting an overview of Sociology for health care professionals, psychology and some great lectures and discussions on law and ethics in health care.

The textbooks and our portfolios are going to be stressing "reflection-based" analyses

I'm not complaining, just wondering if this is typical -- either within the UK or elsewhere?

thanks!

[neonatalRN]

sounds pretty similar to my program.

Heidi

[SnowieRN]

Yep.. nursing isent just science. Gotta learn the other stuff too :)

[Nurse2bSandy]

Kermit,

What do you mean by "reflection-based"? Is it like journaling and then learning from your reflections of what you have learned in certain situations?

I ask because on my first fundamentals exam there was a specific question about the nursing process and what was an important part of critical thinking... the answer was not anything scientific but was the answer related to one's own reflection process. I have to do journals in two of my labs and am finding that they are a good way for me to understand the changes that I need to make and how to make them.

I think it's a great way that we have input into our own learning.

Good luck! :)

[kermit27]

Hi Sandy,

Yeah, it sounds a bit like journaling. We're supposed to reflect, ie, write, I think, about things like how our first impressions were corrected or validated, how our own skills improved, and when things don't go well, why they didn't and what could be changed.

It's a more pro-active approach than the strict academia I was used to, but I think it's necessary for transfering practical skills and the more thoughtful, assessing abilities they need to teach to nurses.

glad to know this is pretty common in the US, too.