Now more than ever, nurse educators have the opportunity to transform nursing education in order to meet the needs of the 21st century learners. Nurse educators have been challenged to step outside of mundane, traditional teaching methods in order to create a more student-centered, interactive learning environment; an environment that engages nursing students of varying intelligences and stimulates deep learning and critical thinking. Finding creative ways to introduce topics and present course content will help to keep the students engaged and interested in the material being learned. Additionally, implementing the use of creative and innovative teaching strategies will address higher levels of thinking and allow for students to build upon current knowledge and create new meaning.
Aside from precpeting new nurses in the emergency department, teaching at trauma skills days and during our Monday morning in-services, I do not have a lot of experience teaching in a formal classroom setting. However, precepting has afforded me the opportunity to reflect on the learning needs of each individual graduate nurse. Throughout this graduate program, I have also been able to reflect on my own personal learning needs. Reflecting on my own learning needs as well as the needs of others has given me insight on the type of teacher I want to be in order to have the greatest impact on my students learning; fun, innovative, supportive, encouraging.
I fully understand and acknowledge that not all students learn in the same fashion and that finding ways to stimulate learning can be challenging. Because I personally find it difficult to learn in traditional classroom settings, I believe that I will be able to use this to my advantage as an educator. I feel as though I will be able to focus on developing and utilizing a variety of creative and active teaching strategies for both large and small classrooms that will keep students both involved and interested. Some ideas of interactive and creative teaching strategies that I would incorporate are the use of game shows, student response systems via clickers, and interactive problem solving strategies such as jigsaws, simulations and case studies.
One creative way to teach medication administration in skills lab is through the use of candy. Each medication bottle or drawer could be labeled with a medication name and dosage. The instructor could incorporate the use of two different dosages for the same medication in order to stimulate the students thought processes and encourage the use of the "five rights" of medication administration. The students will participate by retrieving medications per the MAR for a specific hour of administration. As a bonus, the students can eat the candy. Another creative method for teaching about respiratory diseases is to pass out two different straws to each student; one with a large opening and one with a smaller opening like a coffee stir stick. Have the students inhale and exhale through the straw to show the difference between a normal airway and a restrictive airway. A third creative strategy could be the use of a nitrile glove filled with water or ultrasound gel to teach the students how to use a bladder scanner to determine urinary retention. I am also always up for a challenge and would love to develop a creative and effective teaching strategy of my own one day.
I also believe it is beneficial to provide students with experiences outside of the classroom. For example, in my undergraduate studies I took a class regarding the use of sign language for medical professionals. During class we were afforded the opportunity to take a fieldtrip to Rochester School for the Deaf and Rochester Institute of Technology where we were able to interact with the students and experience what it was like to attend school in that setting. This allowed us as students to partake in a fun, memorable learning experience that related directly to the content being taught in class.
I find it true that a sense of humor can go a long way in the classroom. Utilizing humor in the classroom will allow the students to feel more comfortable and open to learning. Humor brings forth a sense of enthusiasm, positive feelings and optimism and can break the tension of an uncomfortable situation. Being able to laugh at yourself when you’ve made a mistake during a lecture, utilizing props, or sharing a funny, de-identified patient care scenario will allow the students to realize that you are indeed human and thus they won’t feel as intimidated by the learning process. A sense of humor is also beneficial to building teacher-student relationships.
As Albert Einstein once said, “creativity is intelligence having fun.” My goal is to bring forth an energy that inspires the creative minds of students while instilling the knowledge necessary to become competent, well-rounded nurses. I firmly believe that creativity in nursing is reciprocal. If the teacher is effective in facilitating learning through the use of creative and innovative teaching strategies, students are able to express their own creativity via participation in activities and discussion. This helps to place emphasis on preparing students to become innovative, creative leaders as they embark on their journey within the nursing profession.
Aside from precpeting new nurses in the emergency department, teaching at trauma skills days and during our Monday morning in-services, I do not have a lot of experience teaching in a formal classroom setting. However, precepting has afforded me the opportunity to reflect on the learning needs of each individual graduate nurse. Throughout this graduate program, I have also been able to reflect on my own personal learning needs. Reflecting on my own learning needs as well as the needs of others has given me insight on the type of teacher I want to be in order to have the greatest impact on my students learning; fun, innovative, supportive, encouraging.
I fully understand and acknowledge that not all students learn in the same fashion and that finding ways to stimulate learning can be challenging. Because I personally find it difficult to learn in traditional classroom settings, I believe that I will be able to use this to my advantage as an educator. I feel as though I will be able to focus on developing and utilizing a variety of creative and active teaching strategies for both large and small classrooms that will keep students both involved and interested. Some ideas of interactive and creative teaching strategies that I would incorporate are the use of game shows, student response systems via clickers, and interactive problem solving strategies such as jigsaws, simulations and case studies.
One creative way to teach medication administration in skills lab is through the use of candy. Each medication bottle or drawer could be labeled with a medication name and dosage. The instructor could incorporate the use of two different dosages for the same medication in order to stimulate the students thought processes and encourage the use of the "five rights" of medication administration. The students will participate by retrieving medications per the MAR for a specific hour of administration. As a bonus, the students can eat the candy. Another creative method for teaching about respiratory diseases is to pass out two different straws to each student; one with a large opening and one with a smaller opening like a coffee stir stick. Have the students inhale and exhale through the straw to show the difference between a normal airway and a restrictive airway. A third creative strategy could be the use of a nitrile glove filled with water or ultrasound gel to teach the students how to use a bladder scanner to determine urinary retention. I am also always up for a challenge and would love to develop a creative and effective teaching strategy of my own one day.
I also believe it is beneficial to provide students with experiences outside of the classroom. For example, in my undergraduate studies I took a class regarding the use of sign language for medical professionals. During class we were afforded the opportunity to take a fieldtrip to Rochester School for the Deaf and Rochester Institute of Technology where we were able to interact with the students and experience what it was like to attend school in that setting. This allowed us as students to partake in a fun, memorable learning experience that related directly to the content being taught in class.
I find it true that a sense of humor can go a long way in the classroom. Utilizing humor in the classroom will allow the students to feel more comfortable and open to learning. Humor brings forth a sense of enthusiasm, positive feelings and optimism and can break the tension of an uncomfortable situation. Being able to laugh at yourself when you’ve made a mistake during a lecture, utilizing props, or sharing a funny, de-identified patient care scenario will allow the students to realize that you are indeed human and thus they won’t feel as intimidated by the learning process. A sense of humor is also beneficial to building teacher-student relationships.
As Albert Einstein once said, “creativity is intelligence having fun.” My goal is to bring forth an energy that inspires the creative minds of students while instilling the knowledge necessary to become competent, well-rounded nurses. I firmly believe that creativity in nursing is reciprocal. If the teacher is effective in facilitating learning through the use of creative and innovative teaching strategies, students are able to express their own creativity via participation in activities and discussion. This helps to place emphasis on preparing students to become innovative, creative leaders as they embark on their journey within the nursing profession.