Emergency Preparation
A new innovative teaching practice for the College includes the creation of a new course for nursing students, NURS 310, Clinical and Emergency Preparation. The course introduces students to beginning nursing skills including such activities as safety, assessment of vital signs, comfort measures, assistance with daily living activities, environmental concerns, positioning and transporting. Disaster preparedness is also incorporated in this class. This course was created in response to the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 21: Public Health and Medical Preparedness (2007) and due to the fact that incoming students need to be prepared to assist in the likely hood of a hurricane which has occurred in our area three times in the past few years. The American Nurses Association (ANA) recommends that RNs be certified or have formal training in disaster preparedness/response and considers it a part of nursing practice. According to the revised Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice (AACN, 2008) all nurses trained in a baccalaureate programs should be able to "Assess the health, healthcare and emergency preparedness needs of a defined population" and "Use clinical judgment and decision-making skills in appropriate, timely nursing care during disaster, mass casualty, and other emergency situations."
Interprofessional and Global Experiences
AACN Essentials (2008) states that increasing globalization of healthcare and the diversity of this nation's population mandates an attention to diversity in order to provide safe, high quality care. The professional nurse practices in a multicultural environment and must possess the skills to provide culturally appropriate care. The Texas A&M Health Science Center including the College of Nursing, Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy are planning the first Interdisciplinary International Service Learning experience to South America where there will be a focus on increasing cultural competency.
Collaboration Between Nursing Courses
Professional nursing requires strong critical reasoning, clinical judgment, communication, and assessment skills. Nursing courses taught in fall 2008 collaborated to identify topics that could be taught across all courses and then culminate into a simulation experience. An example was that Pathophysiology (Nurs 312) taught oxygenation while at the same time in Health Assessment (Nurs 314) students learned thorax and respiratory assessment. Pharmacology (Nurs 316) reviewed basic respiratory physiology and discussed drugs used in the treatment of asthma and COPD and analyzed the nursing considerations for respiratory tract drugs. In Fundamental Skills lab (Nurs 313) oxygenation administration, suctioning and collection of sputum specimens was introduced. During the simulation students assessed for respiratory status, applied oxygen, evaluated for respiratory distress, administered respiratory medications and developed a plan of care.
Geriatric Nursing Education
Increases in longevity of life have made the older adult the fastest growing segment of the population with a large majority older than 80 years of age (He, Sengupta, Velkoff, & DeBarros, 2005). In response to the need for geriatric nurses The College of Nursing has responded by requiring a standalone course for geriatric nursing (Nurs 315--Nursing and the Aged). This course focuses on normal aging. Information from the Geriatric Nursing Education Consortium is utilized while competencies are based on the Older Adults Recommended Baccalaureate Competencies and Curricular Guidelines for Geriatric Nursing Care (July 2000) from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and The John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing. Relevant findings from the gerontology literature are discussed as they apply to older adults. Ethical/legal issues related to older adults are also discussed. Students attend clinical in an independent living facility, nursing home, and local hospitals. These diverse settings are utilized in the application of assessment and communication skills with the older population. In one example of a clinical experience, students visit clients in an independent living facility where they visit in pairs and meet weekly with their client. The clients range in ages from 62-93. Students utilize reminiscent therapy and improve listening skills while learning to recognize sensory deficits, such as vision and hearing. They identify accommodations for deficits in order to improve communication with their client. Another example students visit clients in the nursing home where they improve their physical and mental assessment skills, end of life and quality of life assessments and interdisciplinary collaboration skills. This experience allows the students to compare differences of abilities for older adults at the same age and allows them to see the differences in cognitive abilities. Evidenced based screening tools are utilized during these visits.
Program Evaluation
Ongoing evaluation of these and other teaching practices are in place for future growth and continual improvement of nursing education. The College of Nursing is implementing an educational benchmarking process to receive surveys from students and their future employers for a period of three years after the student graduates for use in the evaluation of the programs offered. This is only one of the many evaluation tools the College uses to ensure achievement of its vision, mission and goals.
