Nursing 322 - Foundations of Nursing in Acute Care II & End-of-Life
Clara Barton is a new faculty member in the undergraduate nursing program at Oregon Health & Sciences University. Though sheís been an ICU nurse for 28 years and a hospice nurse for 20 years, as well as an adjunct community college faculty member in the two-year RN program for 5 years, she has only taught clinical courses face-to-face in a lab or as a preceptor at a major hospital. She has been assigned to the 3rd year Acute Care II course which requires both theory and practice. As she is teaching students throughout the state of Oregon and precepted hospital sites over 80,000 square miles, sheís notably anxious.
This course builds on Nursing in Acute Care I focusing on more complex and/or unstable patient care situations some of which require strong recognition skills, rapid decision making, and some of which may result in death. The evidence base supporting appropriate focused assessments, and effective, efficient nursing interventions is explored. Life span and developmental factors, cultural variables, and legal aspects of care frame the ethical decision-making employed in patient choices for treatment or palliative care within the acute care setting. Case scenarios incorporate prioritizing care needs, delegation and supervision, family & patient teaching for discharge planning or end-of-life care. Exemplars include acute psychiatric disorders and pregnancy-related complications as well as acute conditions affecting multiple body systems. Includes classroom and clinical learning experiences.
Pedagogical challenges to address in the online environment:
¿ This course has a large content load that needs to have students doing a great deal of analysis and synthesis very quickly. The course is designed to engage students primarily with cases and problem-based learning in the theory portions.
¿ This course requires students to explore difficult ethical, cultural, and legal aspects as they relate to death and dying. These discussions are often emotionally taxing.
¿ This course has students performing clinical activities with precepted staff nurses in over 20 different sites around the state. The instructor cannot visit those sites for direct supervision, yet she must supervise their clinical experience.
¿ This course requires students to engage in simulation activities where they must make realistic, on the spot decisions about life and death treatments and suffer the success or consequence. These simulation activities are scenarios that they are unlikely to experience directly in their clinical placements but may later experience as a nurse in their careers.