4/7/08
Today was clinical day. I instructed the students in the areas of postpartum, high-risk ob, NICU, admissions nursery, and newborn nursery while Dr. Arnold instructed the students in L&D. This was a very busy day! All the students had my cell phone number and called me when it was time for them to get checked off on their assessment. An assessment in each area by the instructor is required for each course. I had the opportunity to review each assessment and give instructor comments. What an empowering experience! It was so exciting to be able to share my knowledge and experience with the students. After the clinical day Dr. Arnold and I met to discuss each students progress throughout this clinical experience.
We have a student in the clinical group that is failing the course so I had the opportunity to meet with her and Dr. Arnold and discuss a plan of action. We plan to meet with her and review the last exam tomorrow and encouraged her to make an appointment with the counselor. She was very emotional and explained the financial stressors her family is having at home. These stressors are weighing on her courses. I have found that she is very anxious and unable to retain basic knowledge during her clinical. It is unfortunate to see students that are trying so hard not do well.
4/8/09
Today two of our faculty members were unable to come to work (my preceptor and today's lecturer). It was another day of trouble-shooting. One faculty member had to fill in today's lecture and the other one had to meet with Dr. Arnold's student (the one I told you about yesterday) to review the last exam. Once again I see flexibility in action. The faculty at TWU treat each other like family. They do not keep tabs on what they are doing for each other. They just stay flexible and do what needs to be done. What a great team!
I participated in the exam review with Mrs. McAlister and the student. I found a correlation between the way the student answered her exam questions and the questions I would ask her during clinical. She would give the opposite answer. After she reviewed her notes and I waited five minutes to repeat the same question, she would still answer the question wrong. I documented my findings and shared them with Mrs. McAlister and Dr. Arnold. The student is going to the counselor on Monday, and she will review test taking skills. I am interested to see the difference this will make.
As far as the question of whether or not to change the next exam, the faculty agreed not to. During the last exam one of the faculty members accidentally gave her room (there are three rooms) of students five extra minutes. This is a major issue of student fairness and Dr. Arnold said it may go to the review board. They have agreed to keep this next exam the easiest of the four in hopes to make up for such an unfair mistake. I don't think this makes up for it, but we will see how the students feel after the exam review.
The exam review went well. The students are only aloud to write comments or questions on a note pad prior to leaving the room. If they want to further review the exam then they have to set up a meeting with the faculty. There were a total of about 10 questions and some were related to the same questions. My measurement and assessment in nursing class really comes into play during test item analysis. I was able to give valuable input into the test questions that students struggled with. Hopefully the faculty will make these necessary changes for future test items. I realize I can only give them the information, but some have been on faculty for years and refuse to change their test items. This upsets me because I think we should always be open to suggestions throughout our career as educators.
Wow! What a busy but great week of learning! Next week I have a university faculty meeting that I am excited about. I will keep you updated on the student as well.
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Ouch! That will be a difficult situation to "make up" for. I hope they can resolve this situation without undue upset to the students
ReplyDeleteHow did the meeting with the failing student go? I find this the most difficult part of the job. While I realize there will always be students who do not pass, it is difficult for me to get to the point of "are you sure this is a good career fit for you?" I hope you and your preceptor will be able to devise an alternative that will help the student succeed. Let us know how it turns out.
The meeting went okay. There were many tears and it is so hard when they genuinely want to be a nurse. I will keep you updated. She is going to see the counselor on Monday so I will be interested to see how she does in the upcoming clinical and exam.
ReplyDeleteI hope your student does better. We also have some students (one actually in our clinical group) that have not done well on the exams. She did do much better on this last exam so that was good. It is nerve wracking because like you said you do want them to do well, but in the end there is only so much you can do. It sounds like you all are being very proactive and helpful with this student. I also couldn't agree more with what you said about the faculty at TWU seeming like family. I've noticed the same thing. I keep coming back to TWU because I feel it is so comfortable and "homey"...
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