This morning was had a sub for our regular Health Assessment lab instructor. (FYI - Health Assessment is where we learn to perform physicals on the various body systems. So it's hands on, practical, and full of information.) Our regular instructor is chronically unprepared. No handouts, no lesson plan, zilch. She'll just start to talk about the system, highlight what to look for, give a brief run-down of assessment techniques, and VIOLA! We are expected to be masters. It's even more frustration when she relates everything to her experience as a NICU nurse, an area of nursing not a single one of us understands. She'll go on about complex procedures, use medical terms like common slang, and rattle off medications beyond our second-year scope of knowledge. We can barely get through memorizing the 12 cranial nerves - how are we supposed to have an understanding about even remotely close to hers? The most frustrating thing is the lack of guidance our class receives in terms of doing the hands-on examinations. Last time I checked, it's a tad uncomfortable for newbie nurses to ask a stranger to remove their clothes and then proceed to feel them up. So we are basically thrown in the waters of 'awkward situations' and expected to float.
ANYWAYS. Our substitute was amazing - first, she brought in Timbits. Food is always a great way to start off a class. Then she provided handouts: one that described what we were expected to do, one that outlined techniques were aren't expected to know, and a third step-by-step reference/guideline page for performing abdominal assessments, followed by a complete demo. HORRAY!! Suddenly, Health Assessment became that much more enjoyable.
Way down the road, I'd like to teach. I think it would be a superb opportunity, a great position for when I'm older and have a family. I will remember these times, and I will use them as examples of how and how not to encourage learning.
Happy Tuesday!
D.
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