Nursing

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1. Strategy: Wise Choice Process
Application:
Introduction to Nursing

Educator: No Name Provided

Implementation: Teach students the Wise Choice Process and have them practice it with a partner. Then discuss with the whole class to what degree the process worked to solve their problems. Next introduce them to the steps of the Nursing Process (ADPIE): Assess, Diagnose, Plan, Implement and Evaluate. In pairs, have students compare the two processes for purpose and method. Then, in a whole class discussion, elicit the similarities of and differences between the two processes. Importantly, help students identify the purpose of these critical thinking processes: To identify a problem, design a plan for solving the problem, and evaluate the results.

 

2. Strategy: Professor Rogers’ Trial (Case Study)
Application:
Introduction to Nursing

Educator: Nancy Cannon, Nursing Study Skills Tutor, Cecil College, MD

Implementation: The purpose of this activity is to encourage nursing students to create and work well in study groups. In preparation for starting study groups, have students read “Professor Rogers’ Trial” and make a list of the behaviors of each character (Anthony, Sylvia, and Donald) that sabotaged the group’s success. Ask students to make a list of positive ways they could respond to each character if that student were in their study group, thus making their study group more successful. Finally, have them make a list of the behaviors of their ideal study group member. Remind them of Gandhi’s famous quotation: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Encourage them to each be the ideal study group member.

 

3. Strategy: Wise Choice Process

Application: Nursing & Advising

Educator: Carol S. Beneker, Academic Coordinator-Nursing, Columbus State Community College, OH

Implementation: As the Academic Coordinator, my role consists of tutor, advisor, counselor, etc. for our "at-risk" population, nursing students who are failing one or both of required, concurrent courses.  If they drop one course, they must drop the other. If they fail one course and pass the other, they do not have to repeat the course passed; however, they are then taken out of the sequence of classes for the nursing program until the failed course is offered again, usually every other quarter. This creates a lot of discord amongst the students. Often they are passing one course and failing the other and have to make a decision about which path to take before the final cut off date. They are in a dilema because they are getting an A in one course but an F in the other and they don't want to drop both courses only to repeat them again. I sit down with them, and we go through the Wise Choice Process. I keep a legal pad just for this situation, and I have the student write down ALL the options because having them do it themselves helps reality sink in for them. After we go through the choices in my office, I have them take the list home for a few days and add whatever they want to it. Then we discuss it again. Suprisingly, they usually make the decision to drop and go out of sequence becasue they don't want a D or F on their record. Failing two classes drops you out of the program entirely at any time. So far, all the students, except for one, have understood the concept of making a wise choice. When the student does choose to drop, I try to discuss with them why they think they were unsuccessful to begin with.