Creative Learning in the Classroom

Dear Students,

On my educational journey I have learned various strategies for use in the classroom to help make learning more meaningful and interactive for you.  Prior to continuing my education,  I did not give considerable thought to the possibilities of incorporating technology into the classroom.  Although I believe traditional classrooms lack many components such as collaboration, and engaging activities, I did not know how to incorporate, or what to incorporate to make the learning  experience more of a facilitative process that uses various technological tools, which many of you use on  a daily basis. After having completed a course in nursing informatics, I feel empowered to help equip you with the tools you will need for nursing at this present  time.

When you return to the classroom for your second semester, I am confident you will find that the objectives you must meet for the course will have engaging content that motivates you to further your learning on any given topic.  More of our classroom time will be on computer, and the smart board will be utilized for group activities.  The goal is to allow you to create your own initiative for building knowledge.  The technology can enable you to manipulate the information you will be acquiring in a manner that accelerates both your understanding and the progression of critical thinking skills. You will then have an opportunity to share your findings with your classmates through a powerpoint presentation.

In the meantime, watch the following video and become inspired to do great things for yourself this coming semester!

When you finish watching the video, grab a cup of your

favorite beverage,

and read the about PDA's in nursing education.  I am so excited to be able to offer this technology to you and would like each of you to familiarize yourself with this tool.

EXAMS and INSTRUMENTS

Wow! All of you have done so well in clinical these past few weeks.  Now you are learning about physical exams and the various procedural tests that patients have like electrocardiograms, X-Rays,and CT scans.  Check out this blog and go to the various links the blog offers. For instance, the vital signs exam video would be worthwhile to view. It has information like temperature and what is normal, blood pressure and how the cuff measures pressure, along with pulses and where to find them. 
So, check out those two links and let me know what you think when we meet in clinical next week.

GLUMS and how to do it

Hello Students! You are all progressing very well as I expected you would given that everyone in your group is engaged in the clinical experience. The feedback I am getting form many in the group is the uncertainty of what GLUMS refers to for your patients. GLUMS is simply glucose monitoring. For this procedure you will acquire an accucheck monitor that will be used to determine your patients blood glucose level. there are only three units on the floor, so you need to make efficient use of your time to allow others to record their GLUMS. For review please see the diabetes association website and go over the steps to taking a blood glucose recording.

In addition, you may find the diabetes help center has information that will contribute to your success in the clinical setting.

Helping your Patients Understand the Importance of Blood Glucose Testing

Hello Students! You all have successfully completed the first week of clinical. Because there are a large number of patients that must have their blood glusose levels monitored, it is important for you to understand the mechanisms that are involved with this testing. Please check out the American Diabetes Association. This will acclimate you to the importance of monitoring, and refresh you on how to check blood glucose levels,which is what we will be doing this week in clinical. As a suportive link to diabetes mellitus, take the time to review insulin and its mechanisms of action. As an added feature to our clinical experience, please take a look at the xtranormal video that shows an interactive dialogue between a family member of a patient and a nurse. At the end of the movie is your assignment to complete a one page paper that addresses Mr. Monroe's question of why give insulin before meals, and how much to administer. Talking with a patient's family member
by: karenlg

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What to expect your first day of clinical

Hello Students!  

So glad you joined me here in this blog. I will be your clinical instructor for the next four weeks.  During that time, we will be learning about a different topic each week in pre and post conference.  For now let's get acclimated to the unit.

There are 24 residents on this long term care unit. Approximately 60% are women and 40% are men. They have a series of chronic conditions. Some of the conditions include diabetes mellitus, dementia, depression, heart failure, osteoporosis, renal failure, and chronic obstructive lung disease, among others. In addition, some may have subacute conditions such as hip fracture, and acute problems of pneumonia, urinary tract infections, pressure ulcers, dehydration and delirium.

You, as the student nurse, will care for these residents utilizing the skills you have rehearsed and practiced in the skills lab as they relate to patient assessment. 

For this first week of your clinical rotation, we will be concentrating on heart sounds as our topic. Also, review the heart sounds diagram.  To do this, please clink on the bolded red words to preview the tutorial and the diagram.

Bring your stethoscopes and a cup of your favorite beverage to the 2nd floor, conference room 102 at 7 am. Tuesday Dec. 13, 2011. Be prepared to discuss the links provided in this blog.
See you then!

If you have any questions or concerns please post them here.

I look forward to working with each of you this rotation!                      

Karen

P.S.  Check out this video!