Week 6 Reflection

 Letter to my Future Nursing Students

Dear students,
    Just a few weeks ago, I had the misconception that I was a fairly tech-savvy individual. I grew up with technology advancing around me and I thought I had stayed pretty up-to-date with the latest trends. Due to my course on informatics and technology, I now realize how much there is that I did not know, and still do not know! As an educator, my learning is always ongoing. I knew that I needed stay current on recent literature and research in nursing. Now I also know that I need to stay informed on the latest advances in the world of technology and how that is integrated into my teaching.

    You may be asking, how will I be using technology with you and your class? I will be interweaving technology into your pre and post-class assignments and within classroom learning activities. We will be using platforms such as Moodle, Prezi, NearPod, Piktochart, and YouTube. You will be using technology throughout your simulation experiences in the practice lab by using Electronic Health Records, bar-code and medication scanning, and QR codes. All of this use of technology throughout your nursing education is helping to prepare you for a technology-laden healthcare system. Healthcare is constantly moving forward and advancing, and soon you will see some tech that seems out of this world! Watch the video below on the top 10 technologies you may see in the future of healthcare and nursing.

    These technologies may be currently out of your reach, but I want to encourage you to grab ahold of the current resources you have that will prepare you for becoming a competent and knowledgable nurse. During the remainder of your nursing education, I recommend you utilize Kaplan as a primary resource to prepare you for your NCLEX exam. Kaplan has incredible material to help prepare you, including practice Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) tests that simulates exactly how the NCLEX exam is given. Please reach out to me if you need assistance with any of Kaplan's online resources.

    I am excited to watch you grow and blossom as you navigate through your nursing education. The use of various technologies may feel daunting, but it will be a fun challenge. Bear with me, Knowing that I too am a student, as I continue to learn more about technology alongside of you. Wishing you many blessings throughout your learning!

💛 Prof Kurtz

Week 5 Reflection

 Technology and Patient-Centered Education

    Thanks to the readily available access of the internet, many patients turn to the world wide web for answers to their questions about pregnancy and childbirth. There are both pros and cons to this. There are many great sources of information out there that provide accurate and helpful education, and technology now provides easy and usually free access to a multitude of options for patients to explore. The cons include disinformation, out-of-date information, and non-expert opinions that can sway a patient towards decision-making that may not be in their best interest.

    Many obstetric patients desire prenatal education. Offering trustworthy resources to our patients is important. There are virtual prenatal classes being offered from the hospital through Zoom. This is a great use of modern technology that patients appreciate attending from the comfort of their own home. Some patients desire prenatal education that focuses specifically on pain management during labor. This link is a great resource on education, planning, and labor pain management.

    Our patients should be encouraged to vocalize their specific wishes or desires during their labor, delivery, and postpartum process. Often patients write these desires down in a Birth Plan which is shared with the staff. This is a great way for patients to advocate for themselves and be included in specific decision-making in their care. Birth Plan templates are available online for patients to download and fill-in their specific requests. This article discusses the benefits of Birth Plans and encourages active patient engagement as a part of their healthcare team.

    I desire to be the type of educator that encourages nurses to take a patient-centered approach to education. If a patient is an un-willing participant, or does not understand the rationale behind receiving specific education, then it falls on deaf ears. In turn, we need to be open to listening to our patients desires and follow their wishes when they make educated decisions. We need to treat the patient as not just a member of the care team, but the center of the care team.

Week 4 Reflection

 Big Data and Healthcare

    The amount of data in the world is overwhelming. The subject of big data, actionable data, and predictive analytics is difficult to grasp by many, including myself. As a nurse educator, I need to do my best to wrap my brain around these concepts so I can relay that knowledge to my students.

    Big data is defined by IBM as "data sets whose size or type is beyond the ability of relational databases to capture, manage and process the data with low latency." Actionable data a useful byproduct big data. Big data analytics collects the excessive amounts of data and organizes it into a concise report, which presents an actionable plan for decision-making. These reports are used in healthcare to help lower costs and achieve better patient outcomes.

    Predictive analytics is when descriptive data is used to predict potentially adverse events in a patient. It takes real-time data from biomedical devices such as patient vital signs, labs, and assessment findings, and can foresee when the patient's condition may worsen in the near future. This can be incredibly valuable to doctors and nurses caring for high-risk patients. Having even a few moments of warning can lead to better planning and decision-making for these critical patients. By using predictive analytics, patient lives are potentially saved.

    Health IT Analytics is a great website that does a good job explaining the differences between descriptive analytics, predictive analytics, and prescriptive analytics. Descriptive analytics tells clinicians what has already happened. Predictive analytics tells clinicians what is about to happen. Prescriptive analytics takes it a step further and recommends the best course of action to take if/when the predicted even occurs. WOW!!!

    The process of taking big data and changing it into smart data is incredible. Just knowing that this technology exists is mind-blowing. As a nurse educator, awareness and understanding of this technology is important. Improving patient care outcomes is at the forefront of my mind and I am grateful for the insight I now have into technology that can improve those outcomes. The YouTube video below has great details explaining differences between descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics.

Week 3 Reflection

 Technology and Interprofessional Education

    As a nursing educator, interdisciplinary education and interprofessional collaboration are two key components that should be taught in nursing education. Nursing is not a stand-alone profession, but instead one cog of an intricate wheel that requires cohesive teamwork with other professions in order to provide safe and quality care to our patients. 

    Communication and collaboration among disciplines is an essential skill students need to succeed. This website provides educators tips to help students learn communication and collaboration. To best prepare our nursing students for real-world practice, educators should provide experiences with interdisciplinary education and interprofessional collaboration.

     This topic excited me because I am currently immersed in teaching interprofessional collaboration through live simulations at Roberts involving our senior nursing students in conjunction with the social work department students. Due to Covid restrictions, our usual IPE (interprofessional education) simulation had to be sized-back. This usually is a HUGE all-day event that spans across our entire lab/sim facility, using over 20 human actors portraying a bursting emergency room with each patient having complicated social situations and legal complications. This IPE usually involves both the social work department and the criminal justice department. It is a great way for our nursing students to apply their understanding about social work referrals and when police need to get involved due to patient and/or staff safety. We hope that by next spring we can proceed back to our "normal" IPE, but I am enjoying being a part of the lower-scale experience we are currently presenting. I have been playing the role of a DV victim who's husband I bring to the ED after he overdoses. While our nursing students are running his code, I am in a room being interviewed by SW students who help me commit to relocating to a shelter with my two children for our safety. This experience has been eye-opening to our students and we have received positive feedback about the IEP and their interaction with the SW department.

    In order to provide students with the best possible realistic scenarios, technology should be used in these learning experiences. The electronic health record (EHR), high tech patient simulation (HTPS), barcode scanning, QR codes, and other technology should be emphasized to enhance learning. Students report walking away from IPE simulation experiences with better understanding why interdisciplinary collaboration is important to patient safety and quality of care. As educators, we need to prepare 21st century nurses with the tools they need to apply this knowledge to their future careers in various clinical settings.

    This website by the University of New Mexico is focused on Interprofessional Education and is a great resource for innovative educators. Take a moment to explore the site and enjoy the YouTube video below to learn more about IPE!

Week 2 Reflection

Authentic and Experiential Learning 

in the Classroom

    Each day, we encounter technology interwoven in every aspect of our lives. It's hard to fathom current life without this integral part of our everyday norm. As educators, we should be using the latest technology in the classroom consistently. This will facilitate that becoming the new norm for learning. Our students deserve better than to sit in front of a PowerPoint and be lectured to!

    When I consider the various learning strategies available to use, it is conceivable to see how active and authentic learning should be occurring in the classroom. As a new educator, I will be taking what I have learned in these last few courses and apply it to my lesson planning. It is well known that students learn best through hands-on experiences, and those should not be limited to clinical hours only. Having active learning strategies through use of technology within the classroom will reinforce the concepts being taught and create an experiential learning environment. This website is a great resource for educators about experiential education.

    Authentic learning is a life skill and not just applicable to nursing school. Our students should be equipped with this ability so when they encounter real-life situations, they have the tools to problem solve a solution. This article on authentic learning offers educators great advice. I love that the author says there is no set formula on how to design authentic learning classrooms and educators should use our personal judgement as our guide. As I grow in my understanding and experience as an educator, I will apply that personal judgement through modifying my teaching strategies for my classroom as necessary. Adjustments will need to be made as modern technology advances to further enhance student learning.

Week 1 Reflection

Nursing Education in the 21st Century Age of Technology

            As an emerging nurse educator in the 21st century, it is my duty to be up-to-date with not only the latest evidence-based-practice, but also with the current technology trends and informatics advancement.  Just a week ago, I had thought of myself as pretty tech-savvy due to being immersed with technology while growing up.  I thought I had a pretty good grasp on how to incorporate technology within a classroom.  Now, between what I learned in the previous course about various learning strategies and in this course about so many technological options I didn't know existed, I feel way out of my conform zone!
    The one thing I learned so far that really blew my mind is about Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality/Mixed Reality and its use in healthcare.  We have only just begun to see the tip of the iceberg when it comes to VR/AR/MR.  As the quote above suggests, this advanced technology feels like magic.  I have a strong feeling that this technology is where medicine, and subsequently nursing, is headed.  This method of instruction is entirely learner-centered and a great hands-on way to have students actively engage with learning.  Can you just imagine being able to see the inside parts of the human body as a 3D MR experience?  Being able to take vital signs and perform a head-to-toe assessment on a patient in the MR platform would be an incredible experience that I hope becomes a reality in my future.
    As an educator and a nurse, it might be quite a few more years before that kind of tech comes to my doorstep, but I am fascinated by it and would love to keep track if its advancement.  Did you know there is a website specifically for educators in VR?  Below is the link to that website, an article about VR in nursing education, and two YouTube videos that demonstrate current VR use.  I am so excited to watch and learn more about this technology and other tech that I can use in my classroom to develop me into an effective 21st century educator.

Educators in VR Website

VR in Nursing Education Article