The things we had to do today were mostly part of the daily routine. There wasn't time for any assessment or instructions from the instructors. As I did my assigned routine and answered call-bells, I decided to put some observational skills into the tasks at hand. Assessing the patients that I have contact with, for any physical abnormalities or conditions.
I can say that this little 'practise' of mine opened my eyes to interesting little details that seem to tell a great deal about the patient's conditions. I'm still slow in 'linking' them into a coherent overall picture but I believe I will improve with more practise.
It is gratifying that I can put theories to practical, bit by bit. Of course, as the senior batch of students now, this would already had been a long-term expectations of us. Let's face it: a majority will still not 'get' it if they only worried about who's gonna sign their books and how much marks they can get. I myself only understood it slowly now. It's interesting that through reflection, learning finally occurs. And these reflective lessons occurs without the need for signing any logbooks or fulfilling some specific criterias.
As a student, I love my learning. As a nurse, I love my patients and my calling. But I can't help feeling that structural training have muddled up and confused the purpose of our learning these skills. By now if anybody cares to read my earlier posts, will know that 'grumblings' about students who are primarily concerned about their MARKS is my pet topic.
If I ever become an educator one day, and a student showed me that he or she is only concerned about how much marks they are getting and neglecting the most basic goal which is patient's wellbeing, I will fail them outright based on their attitudes alone.
Nobody's perfect, including me. But to show care for another human being is something so primal that any human being can do it. Let's not lose sight of what it means to be a professional nurse AND be human.
I am most happy for you as u demonstrate great potential as a great educator. Some nursing schools (e.g. ITE, PC and NUHS) do conduct interview at entry in order to pick up candidates who really care to be a nurse (but of course some slipped thru the net). This does serve the insitutitions well compared to those other who do not conduct interview.
ReplyDeleteAs for clinical facilitation, this really is a big challenge. Preceptorship for new staff is just as demanding. Unfortunately not many of us do a great job at that. There are safety net in place for example some weightage is accorded to professional and personal attributes at CP, but may be they are not significant enough. In this aspect, I think some polytechnics place greater emphasis than PC.
The great thing at the end is, though we may get good grade (or poor grade) from others, the final assessment is within ourselves.