Junior Experience: Fall 2010 & Spring 2011
Basic Nursing Informatics - NURS 30050
- Competencies:
- Understanding the roles, competencies, and skills in nursing informatics
- The use and importance of informatics in nursing practice including: patient education and nursing research, ethics and technology security, telenursing, electronic health record, and HIPAA regualtions
- Patient Teaching:
- Education on importance of influenza vaccine: View H1N1 Nursing Proposal
- EBP:
- Primary prevention and information on cervical cancer: View Patient Education Brochure
- Personal Reflection:
- This course made me understand the importance of nursing informatics in the health care field and the various ways technology is incorporated into nursing practice. I learned that nursing informatics has many positive outcomes including the enhancement of EBP, organization, forming care plans, and decisions to better my patients care. Since the world of technology is growing, it is imperative that nurses learn how to incorporate informatics into their career.
Health Care of Children - NURS 30020
- Competencies:
- Pain assessment, pediatric pain scales, pain management
- IV insertion, IV drip rates
- Pediatric developmental assessment & adequate nutrition depending on developmental age
- Safe medication dosages for children based on their weight
- Communication techniques for children at different ages and developmental stages
- Alterations in the following: respiratory function, GI function, mental status, EENT function, musculoskeletal function, cardiovascular function, hematologic function, GU function, endocrine function, neurologic function, fluid and electrolyte balance
- Infectious and communicable diseases in pediatric client
- Care for a child with a life threatening illness or injury
- Patient Teaching:
- Deep breathing exercises pertaining to the developmental age of the child, such as blowing bubbles for younger children
- Proper use of atrovent and albuterol, and having patient and patient's mother demonstrate back to know they understand
- Discharge education to mother for infant with ALTE
- Enforcing movement, incentive spirometer, and keeping legs uncrossed for patient with pulmonary embolism
- Taught group of 4-5 year old children to "Catch their Sneeze" in the inside of their arms and proper hand washing technique to prevent germs from spreading
- EBP:
- Premature infant patient: View Nursing Process Paper
- Cardiac Case Study
- Personal Reflection:
- This course introduced me to what pediatric nursing involves. I learned the correct skills that were necessary to care for children at different growth and developmental stages. In clinical, I had the opportunity to apply my skills to adolescents, school agers, toddlers, and infants. I was fortunate that I got to work with every different type of age on the pediatric floor. I really enjoyed being able to work on the pediatric floor. The nurses and doctors at Aultman, including my professor, were very helpful and taught me a lot of valuable information. This course was very interesting and a wonderful experience for me.
- Clinical Setting: Aultman Hospital located in Canton, Ohio
Parent and Newborn Nursing - NURS 30010
- Competencies:
- Conception & healthy pregnancy
- Labor & delivery, stages of labor, fetal monitoring, prenatal screening
- Care in high risk pregnancy, care during high risk labor, care related to high risk newborns
- Newborn nutrition and head to toe assessment, maternal nutrition including contrasts between breastfeeding and bottle feeding
- Nursing care for a high risk postpartum period, postpartum assessment using mnemonic BUBBLE HEB
- Adolescent pregnancy, advanced maternal age with pregnancy
- Menstrual cycle, fertility & infertility, contraception
- Substance abuse and domestic violence
- Care related to infections & STDs, grief & bereavement
- Aseptic technique before entering the birth unit
- Intervention follow-up after administering pain medications to postpartal women
- Vaccination administration to mother and newborns using aseptic technique.
- Patient Teaching:
- Teaching the patient importance of wearing a bra to prevent engorgement discomfort; umbilical cord care; circumcision care and to what to look for if infection occurs; newborn swaddling; importance of hand hygiene and infection control; importance of early ambulation and fluids to prevent risk of thrombophlebitis
- EBP:
- Mother and newborn case study: View Group Case study
- Personal Reflection:
- This clinical experience taught me the importance in caring for a client in the antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum periods. I achieved the opportunity to build many nurse-patient relationships when caring for the patient and her newborn. With a trusting relationship between my patients, I was able to educate my patients with the knowledge I learned in the course many times throughout my clinical day. I really enjoyed my experiences during this class and loved learning about labor and delivery.
- Clinical Setting: Aultman Hospital located in Canton, Ohio
Nursing of Adults - NURS 30030
- Competencies:
- PO, IM, SQ, IV push medications; IV site care, hep-lock flush with normal saline
- Head to toe assessments in adults on the Medical/Surgical floor
- Nursing focus and interventions pertaining to: IV therapy, arterial blood gases, lower airway disorders, obstructive/reactive/restrictive airway diseases, lung cancer, electrophysiologic properties of cardiac muscle, cardiac diseases, hypertension, DVT, heart failure, renal and endocrine disorders, diabetes, immune system, carcinogens, chemotherapy, immunocompromised clients, organ transplantation, AIDS, retroviral therapy, medications, and diagnostic testing regarding these health issues
- Patient Teaching:
- Non-pharmacological ways to manage pain like using hot/cold compresses, relaxation techniques, music therapy, and daily exercises
- Instructing patient with a UTI to drink lots of fluids and cranberry juice, because of the acidic environment cranberry juice would create which would decrease bacteria; also to avoid coffee, alcohol, and spicy foods because they will worsen the UTI
- EBP:
- Nursing process paper on patient with gastrointestinal bleed: View my Process Paper
- Personal Reflection:
- This course has heightened my skill level. I was able to use the skills I learned in class during clinical and proficiently care for the adult patient on the Medical-Surgical unit. By the end of this course I was more able to connect patients to their lab results, medications, nursing diagnoses, interventions, and complications the patients could develop. I really enjoyed this course and how it made me effectively think critically.
- Clinical Setting: Mercy Medical Center located in Canton, Ohio
Nursing of Adults with Gerontologic and/or Rehabilitation Needs - NURS 30040
- Competencies:
- PO, IM, SQ, intradermal medication administration
- Geriatric assessment tools & Head to toe assessments in the elder adult
- Aging process and physiological changes in the elder adult
- Caring for patients with cognitive and neurological dysfunctions, self-perception and self-concept patterns, coping and stress patterns, orthopedic disorders, sexuality, and end of life care in the older adult.
- Patient Teaching:
- Medication side effects, such as with hypertensive meds or diuretics
- Instructing patients to change positions slowly to prevent orthostatic hypotension and dizziness
- Non-pharmacologic methods to decrease anxiety like coping mechanisms, sleep, and relaxation techniques
- Reinforcement of hand hygiene
- Coughing and deep breathing exercises including use of incentive spirometer to expand the lungs.
- EBP:
- Nursing process paper on geriatric patient with coronary artery disease: View my Process Paper
- Personal Reflection:
- In this course I learned the aging process with older adults and how to effectively provide the right care pertaining to the patient. I was able to correlate nursing diagnoses and interventions specific to my clients. In this course I was able to demonstrate the skills I have learned in the past and had the opportunity to learn new skills in the nursing home and rehabilitation unit with the older adult.
- Clinical Setting: Altercare of Nobles Pond & Mercy Medical Center both located in Canton, Ohio
Introduction to Nursing Research - NURS 40872
- Competencies:
- Using and searching evidence, collecting data, sampling, analyzing data, and critiquing articles
- Sources of evidence, research questions, and nursing theories
- Quantitative and qualitative designs
- EBP:
- View my EBP project on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome & Paper that goes along with EBP project on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
- Personal Reflection:
- This course taught me the correct strategies to find evidence based research. I now have a better understanding of what a research article entails and how to evaluate them so they can be used in the proper way for nursing research.
