Mariann:
Great!. It seems that, especially in medicine (and culinary), there's always another way to perform a skill or activity, or job. Sounds like you've got a good plan in the works.
Regards, Barry
Any time there is a new procedure introduced it's presented then the next day the students are to re-introdue the procedure to the class each one on a different step untill avery one has familarized the procedure
I do go over various procedures daily and also make sure the students feels secure and comfortable before walking in patients room to perform the skill. I usually show several ways to do the same skill, thereby allowing the student to perform the skill the way they feel the most comfortable.
Mariann U
Hi Mariann:
Clinical training is kind of a unique training environment. You never know which of the multiple experiences or exposure to a multitude of clinical situations a student might find challenging. Always, providing a caring, and sense of security for the students is helpful and appreciated.
Some back up plans may be just that..."let's back up and review that procedure" or "let's take a closer look at how this supposed to work". These reassurances can translate into meaningful experiences if the back-up plan includes a little extra time to get something clarified.
Rewgards, Barry
I agree that by breaking down what is expected and demonstrating desired skills most students anxiety levels are decreased. I start out clinical slow and then gradually progress. I try to instill confidence in all students. In the last 2 weeks I allow the students to challenge themselves as desired. What is most rewarding is observing a student that lacked confidence in the beginning challenge themself even more than I expected.
Of course, sometimes you get lazy students and need to continue to assign them their patient workload until clinical ends.
Mariann U
Hi Mariann:
Clinical is almost always an exciting experience for students. It can be a challenge to reduce anxious students from feeling so stressed they can't think. I think this is partly due to their (false) belief they arn't prepared well enough or know the material expected of them. Clinical can be overwhelming.
Yet, by breaking down what is expected, demonstrating and making the students feel comfortable and welcomed in their new setting can contribute greatly to fears begining to diminish and being replaced with confidence and the excitement of experiencing the variety of resources the clinical site provides.
Regards, Barry
I agree with you. On my first day of each new clinical class, I give a hospital orientation to policies, procedures and equipment. I also explain the pt. population and give examples of the disease processes we will be studying.
I explain to the students that if they are unfamiliar with a procedure we will follow the hospital protocol. All procedures can be found on the hospital internet system.
By giving all this information on the first day, most students' anxieites levels are decreased. This is because they now know what is ahead of them and what is expected of them throughout their clinical rotation.
Mariann U
Hi Mariann:
Facility orientation, policy, procedures, these are all good examples of activities that can be refered back to.
Regards, Barry
I agree. That is why on the first two days of a new clinical nursing rotation I explain the hospitals, schools ,and my policies and protocol. Therefore, when they continue on with their actvities throughout the term they should understand and be able to refer to protocol previously discussed!!
Mariann u
Hi Mariann:
As learners, the more information students have regarding a beginning activity, the better they will be able to intelligently participate, or at least not be totally in the dark about what the discussion involeves.
Regards, Barry
Hi Penelope:
This is a good idea. Keeps them busy usining technologybthey're familiar with and related to course content. Easy to implemment, too.
Regards, Barry
Sounds like a good actvity. I also use this one in my clinical nursing setting. I assign a student to shadow a different disciplinary field expert, but first give them the professional website to look information up related to the department they will be shadowing. This way they are somewhat familiar with what the persons job entails before they start their day.
Mariann U
I always keep a couple of class activities as back up in case the class is faster than average and would like to do some exploreatory learning. I call them webmining activities where they have to go to a website that I frequent and answer some pertinent questions about subject matter begin covered in the class.
Hi Mariann:
These are good examples. I think better back up plans are simple to implement, can be initiated on very short notice, and require virtually no planning. These are useful for those times when everything you've planned is not going well, equipment not available, or resources absent. That's when a good back up plan is worth it's weight in gold.
Regards, Barry
I am a clinical instructor so I rotate students to various places in the hospital. I have a large network of friends and know many of the hospital managers and different discipline areas. So students get to shadow and work with various disciplines. Their schedule changes every week to give them the most of their clinical experience and broaden their horizons. This is alos done so students do not get bored observing the same skills over and over again. Of course, in post conference ,I usually have an array of tests, projects, and games so as to almost have too much to do rather than not enough.
Mariann U
Hi Louis:
Group activity as a back up plan is especially helpful beccause usually the student are familiar with each other, and you can keep them on task by focusing on a topic that is relevant to the current material. Simple activities work better than something that'll take a lot of preparation.
Regards, Barry
I keep a folder in the main shared drive that has several other folders pertaining for that day's topic or learning outcomes. Often students will finish a task at hand and will need more work to accomplish that task therefore I assign them a fun group activity that will get them motivated and engaged. Furthermore, substitutes can easily find the folder in the main shared drive and see what we are doing that day and jump in easily.
~Louis
Hi Nicholas:
Yes, I agree. Getting students involved by having them review, summarize, provide examples, or demonstrate can help if time remains at the end of the lesson period.
Regards, Barry
Determining the pace of students can sometimes be a challange. Having additional small lesson plans or tasks that quantify or support the days lecture/demo are great ways to reinforce and augment the information given in the original lesson.
Hi Roy:
The thing we don't want to hear from students is "my time was wasted" or "I didn't learn anything". This can happen if adequate back up plans are not in place.
Regards, Barry
