My first clinical placement this semester starts on March 14 and is for 3 weeks. Found out that I will be on the Neurosurgery and Neurotrauma ward. Head injury, brain damage and brain surgery - very interesting! Haven’t done anything like this before.
From April 16 to May 22 I will not have any classes or clinical placements! That’s FIVE WEEKS off in the middle of the semester! I hope to do lots and lots of paid work during this time, as well as spend plenty of quality time with my family during the Easter period.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Professional Transitions in Nursing Week 1
Subject Description:
Students will focus on issues that impact on nurses and nursing work. They will focus on personal and professional development with an emphasis on registration requirements, job application, transition to the role of RN Division 1 and future career directions. Students will explore contemporary factors impacting on professional nursing practice, including the role of the nurse in health care and the effect of political and/or economic decisions on the provision of care.
Assessment:
1. Professional portfolio worth 40% with letter of application, curriculum vitae and 1200 word discussion paper on maintaining competence in nursing practice.
2. Group presentation worth 20%
3. 1600 word Professional Development Plan for final year of Bachelor of Nursing, identifying learning needs and reflections on how I achieved them on clinical placement, worth 40%.
So far the lectures and workshops for this subject have been about Grad year, what is involves, the application process, the interview process, the challenges, the benefits and so on. Yesterday in workshop we did mock job interviews in our groups and gave each other feedback. This is really good practice. We were given a list of about 50 questions that often get asked in grad interviews, so we can plan and practice our answers. I'll be applying for graduate positions in June/July this year, so this subject will be really useful for getting on with that.
Students will focus on issues that impact on nurses and nursing work. They will focus on personal and professional development with an emphasis on registration requirements, job application, transition to the role of RN Division 1 and future career directions. Students will explore contemporary factors impacting on professional nursing practice, including the role of the nurse in health care and the effect of political and/or economic decisions on the provision of care.
Assessment:
1. Professional portfolio worth 40% with letter of application, curriculum vitae and 1200 word discussion paper on maintaining competence in nursing practice.
2. Group presentation worth 20%
3. 1600 word Professional Development Plan for final year of Bachelor of Nursing, identifying learning needs and reflections on how I achieved them on clinical placement, worth 40%.
So far the lectures and workshops for this subject have been about Grad year, what is involves, the application process, the interview process, the challenges, the benefits and so on. Yesterday in workshop we did mock job interviews in our groups and gave each other feedback. This is really good practice. We were given a list of about 50 questions that often get asked in grad interviews, so we can plan and practice our answers. I'll be applying for graduate positions in June/July this year, so this subject will be really useful for getting on with that.
Nursing Older People Week 1
Subject Description
Students will encounter the health needs of older people in diverse settings, but particularly in acute care settings. They will consider the biopsychosocial aspects of ageing, older persons’ responses to multiple pathology and recent advances in the ability to regulate the biology of ageing. They will further develop skills in advanced nursing assessment. The importance of the nursing roles in promoting, maintaining, and restoring the health of older adults will be a major focus. Consideration will be given to the potential negative impact of care on the older individual’s ability to live a meaningful, productive, autonomous and responsible life.
So, basically after this subject, I will encourage all my elderly patients to start using anti-ageing cream if they haven’t already, to prevent ageing, LOL.
Assessment:
• 20 minute Group presentation in final workshop worth 20%
• 1500 word individual report on healthcare issues for elderly patients worth 30%
• 2000 word individual case management review based on real patient from clinical placement worth 50%
• 2 week clinical placement start May 23.
I won’t be doing much for this subject until the second half of the semester because I am in the last placement group and most of my workshops are also later in the semester.
Complex Care Nursing Week 1
This is my biggest subject for the semester with twice as much content as the other two. This is the subject description:
Students will work as a member of a health care team and investigate the usefulness of selected therapies for individual clients in an acute health care setting. The impact of complex health problems on the individual and carers will be emphasised. Students will develop knowledge and skills in order to engage in person-centred care with individuals experiencing a range of complex acute and chronic health care issues. In the clinical setting, there will perform focused assessment and apply clinical reasoning to further develop their skills in planning and delivering care that incorporates pathophysiology principles, medical technology and discharge plans.
My assessment for this subject:
• Three week clinical placement – must complete this satisfactorily to pass the subject. My placement starts very soon on March 14th!
• 2500 word assignment worth 40%
• 2.5 hour open answer exam worth 50%
• Workshop participation (homework tasks) worth 10%
This week this is what we covered in the subject:
Lectures
• Advance Care Planning: respecting patient choices and withdrawal of treatment - this is about trying to find out what people want for themselves before it too late to ask (lose their capacity to make a decision). It takes the burden off families to make those difficult decisions. The principles of respecting patient choices are dignity, autonomy, informed consent, and prevention of suffering. Everyone has their own feelings about what make each day meaningful for them, such as spending time with loved ones, eating delicious food, mobility and able to carry out basic activities of daily living, and environment. Situations one might consider unacceptable are not being able to recognise or communicate with loved ones, not being about to eat or do basic activities of daily living independently such as toileting and bathing. Also some people like the idea of a quick death rather than a long drawn out death with lots of pain, suffering and boredom, so they have a preference that if their heart stops they do not want to be resuscitated. It's important to think about these things and tell your next of kin - partner, son/daughter, mother/father - what your wishes are. Or you could just get a tattoo.
Labs
• Emergency scenario – focused assessment
• Performing an ECG (we learnt this last year so it was just practice)
• Interpreting an ECG
• Management of underwater seal chest drains
• Management of central venous line catheters
Workshops:
• Reviewed pathophysiology of the heart
• ECG interpretation
• Patient scenario health issues and procedures:
• Transischaemic attack
• Percutaneously inserted valve
• Transesophageal echo probe
• Angioplasty
• Angiogram
• Aortic stenosis (showing up in angiogram)
Students will work as a member of a health care team and investigate the usefulness of selected therapies for individual clients in an acute health care setting. The impact of complex health problems on the individual and carers will be emphasised. Students will develop knowledge and skills in order to engage in person-centred care with individuals experiencing a range of complex acute and chronic health care issues. In the clinical setting, there will perform focused assessment and apply clinical reasoning to further develop their skills in planning and delivering care that incorporates pathophysiology principles, medical technology and discharge plans.
My assessment for this subject:
• Three week clinical placement – must complete this satisfactorily to pass the subject. My placement starts very soon on March 14th!
• 2500 word assignment worth 40%
• 2.5 hour open answer exam worth 50%
• Workshop participation (homework tasks) worth 10%
This week this is what we covered in the subject:
Lectures
• Advance Care Planning: respecting patient choices and withdrawal of treatment - this is about trying to find out what people want for themselves before it too late to ask (lose their capacity to make a decision). It takes the burden off families to make those difficult decisions. The principles of respecting patient choices are dignity, autonomy, informed consent, and prevention of suffering. Everyone has their own feelings about what make each day meaningful for them, such as spending time with loved ones, eating delicious food, mobility and able to carry out basic activities of daily living, and environment. Situations one might consider unacceptable are not being able to recognise or communicate with loved ones, not being about to eat or do basic activities of daily living independently such as toileting and bathing. Also some people like the idea of a quick death rather than a long drawn out death with lots of pain, suffering and boredom, so they have a preference that if their heart stops they do not want to be resuscitated. It's important to think about these things and tell your next of kin - partner, son/daughter, mother/father - what your wishes are. Or you could just get a tattoo.
Labs
• Emergency scenario – focused assessment
• Performing an ECG (we learnt this last year so it was just practice)
• Interpreting an ECG
• Management of underwater seal chest drains
• Management of central venous line catheters
Workshops:
• Reviewed pathophysiology of the heart
• ECG interpretation
• Patient scenario health issues and procedures:
• Transischaemic attack
• Percutaneously inserted valve
• Transesophageal echo probe
• Angioplasty
• Angiogram
• Aortic stenosis (showing up in angiogram)
Week 1 - Hospital Orientation
A whole day of lectures was devoted to introducing us to the hospital's philosophy of care and policies.
Patient outcomes:
• Health goals are met
• Positive experience
• Not harmed
• Timely communication
Regular assessment of patients’ basic needs (hourly checks):
• Pain
• Toileting
• Mobility
• Environment
• Other – ie, “is there anything I can do for you?”
Criteria for a MET (Medical Emergency Team) call:
• Resp rate > 36 resps per minute or < 6
• Oxygen saturation of <90% on oxygen
• Threatened airway
• Systolic blood pressure < 90
• Heart rate > 140 or < 40 beats per minute
• Sudden drop in Glasgow Coma Scale by 2 points (neurological score)
• Prolonged seizures (could be a stroke)
• Uncontrolled pain
• Other serious concern (eg. uncontrolled bleeding)
Nurses’ role during a medical emergency:
• CPR – compressions and/or bagging (breaths)
• Medication
• Reassurance
• Runner
• Scribe
• Remove clutter
• Reassure other patients and visitors who are nearby
• Information
• Delegate roles
• Interventions
Policies:
• Hand hygiene
• Manual Handling
• Risk assessment and management
• Patient aggression
• Infection control - For gastroenteritis, staff must not come to work for 48 hours after their last symptom of vomiting or diarrhoea, because they will still be infectious. Gastro can KILL elderly people, infants, and those with compromised immune systems.
Adverse Events
In Australia the statistics are that 16% of patients admitted to hospital experience one of the following during their stay:
• Medication error
• Fall
• Pressure ulcer
• Wrong blood
• Hospital acquired infection
• Wrong site surgery or wrong procedure.
Patient outcomes:
• Health goals are met
• Positive experience
• Not harmed
• Timely communication
Regular assessment of patients’ basic needs (hourly checks):
• Pain
• Toileting
• Mobility
• Environment
• Other – ie, “is there anything I can do for you?”
Criteria for a MET (Medical Emergency Team) call:
• Resp rate > 36 resps per minute or < 6
• Oxygen saturation of <90% on oxygen
• Threatened airway
• Systolic blood pressure < 90
• Heart rate > 140 or < 40 beats per minute
• Sudden drop in Glasgow Coma Scale by 2 points (neurological score)
• Prolonged seizures (could be a stroke)
• Uncontrolled pain
• Other serious concern (eg. uncontrolled bleeding)
Nurses’ role during a medical emergency:
• CPR – compressions and/or bagging (breaths)
• Medication
• Reassurance
• Runner
• Scribe
• Remove clutter
• Reassure other patients and visitors who are nearby
• Information
• Delegate roles
• Interventions
Policies:
• Hand hygiene
• Manual Handling
• Risk assessment and management
• Patient aggression
• Infection control - For gastroenteritis, staff must not come to work for 48 hours after their last symptom of vomiting or diarrhoea, because they will still be infectious. Gastro can KILL elderly people, infants, and those with compromised immune systems.
Adverse Events
In Australia the statistics are that 16% of patients admitted to hospital experience one of the following during their stay:
• Medication error
• Fall
• Pressure ulcer
• Wrong blood
• Hospital acquired infection
• Wrong site surgery or wrong procedure.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
New semester - final year!
Wow, this week is so jam packed with classes and I also have heaps of homework to do to keep up. I'm going to try to find time to update my blog during the week because there is lots to write about but homework, staying organised and getting enough sleep are my priorities. I'll definitely update on the weekend though.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Basic Life Support Update
At the beginning of last year I did my First Aid Certificate and every 12 months I need to do a refresher for the CPR component. With my new job, I'm lucky that I can do Continuing Professional Education Updates online and it is subsidised. I just did the Basic Life Support Update which was an online tutorial covering the updated guidelines for CPR and basic life support from the Australian Resuscitation Council. The new guidelines incorporate the latest evidence for:
1. Managing an emergency
2. Unconsciousness
3. Airway
4. Breathing
5. Compressions
6. Automated External Defibrillation
7. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
It cost $12 to do the update which will be deducted from my first pay. For the assessment there are 3 attempts allowed before you have to pay again. In the first attempt I got 8/10 and I checked which ones I got wrong then did the second attempt straight away. The second time I got 10/10.
There are lots of other updates I can do if I want but I'll leave them for now because they cost money. Closer to the time I apply for grad positions I might do a few more because it will be good for my resume.
Found out my timetable which starts next week. It's jam packed with classes Monday to Friday for at least the first few weeks, so I'll be pretty busy and have lots to blog about.
1. Managing an emergency
2. Unconsciousness
3. Airway
4. Breathing
5. Compressions
6. Automated External Defibrillation
7. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
It cost $12 to do the update which will be deducted from my first pay. For the assessment there are 3 attempts allowed before you have to pay again. In the first attempt I got 8/10 and I checked which ones I got wrong then did the second attempt straight away. The second time I got 10/10.
There are lots of other updates I can do if I want but I'll leave them for now because they cost money. Closer to the time I apply for grad positions I might do a few more because it will be good for my resume.
Found out my timetable which starts next week. It's jam packed with classes Monday to Friday for at least the first few weeks, so I'll be pretty busy and have lots to blog about.
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