Thanks for joining me!
Over the next few months I will be exploring a topic that is near and dear to me. As a registered nurse it is always interesting to see how much health education has changed in the 10 years that I have been involved in the profession of caring for others. What is more fascinating are the stories that more senior nurses and other health care professionals share about their time as novices and what there education looked like.
The central theme around this blog will be to look at how we trained health care workers in the past, how we are currently educating health care workers, and the goals that have been laid out for future education. My hope for this blog is that health care workers will be able to appreciate where different bodies of knowledge have developed from and for non health care workers to be able to learn about the education that goes on behind the scenes of the health system.
This should make for an interesting learning opportunity for all of us as we explore an area that will touch everyone’s life at one point or another. From early witch doctors to modern nuclear medicine, the advent and initiation of epidemiology to the discovery of synthetic medications, there is more information now than ever for health care professionals to learn and the way in which they learn it is changing as well.
Learning How To Care 
Hi Gregory,
I think you have chosen a very good topic for your blog! My mom has been in the field for the past fifteen years and has shared much of her experiences with nursing education as well as her experiences as a mentor to prospective nurses. I also have a friend who is currently completing a Nurse Practitioner degree. It is interesting to hear the differences and similarities between both their experiences attending nursing programs and their time training in the field with mentors. I am excited to see where your blog takes you!
Best,
Josh
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Hi Gregory,
It will be so interesting to read about your discoveries and the way caring for health has changed over time. I’m also wondering how the knowledge we have at our fingertips can be a a positive or negative when it comes to caring for and educating oneself without seeking a doctor or hospital. As baby boomers are now a generation of seniors who are looking for additional support in health care, I wonder too, how we, as a country are keeping up. I look forward to understanding more about how nursing education has changed over time and especially the path it will take moving forward.
Jas
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Hi Gregory,
I find it interesting specifically in regard to post-secondary education. I currently teach in the college system. Some time ago universities started partnering with the colleges to be able to provide a degree in a practical college setting. Being in Kingston which is a large post-secondary institution town, and students having lots of options for schooling, it is interesting to hear there are different skills to be gained in a different education setting. It could be argued that a college education could provide a more hands-on approach and university a more academic approach. Which is better?
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Hi Lindsay,
Hard to say which is better! I also took a blended registered nurse program with 2 years in college and 2 in university. Of note, the curriculum in my program and the straight 4 year university program was identical. For the most part I feel that college teaches vocational skills with set career pathways where as university tends to teach more theoretical skills that then allow students to explore a variety of options that they must choose (obvious exemptions to this with some programs).
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Hi Gregory, I work as a student support teacher and the majority of my teaching is with students diagnosed with learning disabilities. I look for the best technological or teaching practices that will remove barriers to learning. I want these students to have every opportunity when choosing career paths. Do you think post-secondary nursing or other post-secondary programs embrace innovations in teaching or do they still use more traditional approaches? For example, our schools are moving away from exam-based assessments to assessments that demonstrate mastery in other ways. If post-secondary institutions rely mostly on exams for assessments and If these students lack the experiences of exam writing how will they be successful in a post-secondary institution that uses only exams to demonstrate mastery? If there is a difference mismatch between the curricular approaches between the different levels of education will result in barriers for some students.
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Hi Mariette,
While health care fields are open to innovation in teaching I would say that innovation in grading is not up to the extent that it appears your educational institution is. All of the health programs I have taught in engage in many different ways of learning including simulation labs, clinical placements, traditional lectures and online learning. However for the most part any courses that are not clinical still require students to take tests and more specifically multiple choice tests. Many students come into post secondary education with limited strategies on how to take a multiple choice test and it causes anxiety for them.
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In our staff meetings, the issue of test writing skills has been discussed. This seems like such a complex issue; however, I am confident that through creative curriculum designs and assessment practices we will eventually figure out a solution.
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Hi Gregory,
I am really interested to read your blog, partly because your context is very different than my own, partly because my mom is a retired nurse who still speaks so fondly of her nurses’ training over fifty years ago.
I was recently at a conference at Stanford University and the presenters spoke about the move away from GPAs and noted that only 81% of entering students had a GPA, the remaining were admitted on other measures. I wondered on your thoughts on determining who are the best candidates for health sciences, as the nursing schools here in Alberta are based solely on marks and are very difficult to get in to. Thanks,
Marnie Thomas
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Hi Marnie,
Currently in Ontario the entry to school for nursing is also based heavily on academic performance.
I wonder if a more blended approach to discovering the best applicants would be more appropriate.
Perhaps nursing should emulate what med school had done and have an interview process along with a minimum academic expectation.
Thank you for your comment!
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GOOD STUFF – KEEP IT GOING
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