Safe and high quality health care is underpinned by health care professionals possessing the know... more Safe and high quality health care is underpinned by health care professionals possessing the knowledge, skills and professional attributes which are necessary for their specific clinical speciality and area of practice. Education is crucial as it enables clinicians to learn and put into practice their specialist knowledge, skills and attributes. These elements will be based on clinical standards, which set the agenda for quality and safety in health care. The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon how a post-registration, degree-level critical care nursing course provided by an English university facilitates nurses to deliver high quality, safe nursing care for critically ill patients and their families. As a reflective analysis, the process of reflection will be guided and structured according to Rolfe's framework for reflective practice. The reflection is based upon the personal observations and teaching experiences of two university lecturers involved in the delivery of the critical care course. Critical care nursing education can incorporate informed practice, simulation and non-technical skills into post-registration critical-care nursing courses as a way of promoting high-quality, safe clinical practice in the critical care setting. This article provides examples from one course's experience with doing this and ends with specific recommendations for how critical care nursing courses can enhance further the promotion of quality and safety. Educators, mentors and students of post-registration critical care nursing courses are encouraged to explore the relevance of nursing education in promoting safe and high-quality clinical practice.
Care of the Acutely Ill Adult: An essential guide for …, Jan 1, 2010
... Family-centred health care promotes a partnership arrangement among the patient, family, and ... more ... Family-centred health care promotes a partnership arrangement among the patient, family, and providers using four core principles (Institute for Family-Centered Care 2008): 1 Dignity andrespect Listening to and honouring the patient and family's perspectives and ...
Background: The objective structured clinical examination is commonly referred to as an 'OSCE' an... more Background: The objective structured clinical examination is commonly referred to as an 'OSCE' and is a way of assessing a student's competency with clinical skills. The OSCE involves the student demonstrating a skill during a simulated clinical situation in a controlled environment instead of using real patients in the practice setting. Post-registered nursing courses are now beginning to use the OSCE as a form of summative assessment either as replacement for or in addition to skills assessed by a mentor in practice. Aim: This paper aims to reflect back on a recent experience of introducing an OSCE into a post-registered, degree level intensive care nursing programme. Methods: The process of reflection will be used throughout the analysis following the Six Thinking Hats tool. Conclusions: Organizing and implementing an OSCE for an intensive care nursing programme required a great deal of preparation and time of the teacher but also offered various benefits and advantages compared with other forms of assessment. Disadvantages and limitations of the OSCE are also identified in this article along with recommendations and practical advice for other teachers, examiners and students participating in OSCEs.
This article describes an initiative by an NHS trust to support its district nurses in developing... more This article describes an initiative by an NHS trust to support its district nurses in developing and using physical examination skills as part of patient assessment. The article outlines the process and suggests that the initiative is important to help meet the needs of older patients with long-term conditions.
Differential diagnosis has become a key element of advanced nursing roles that are incorporating ... more Differential diagnosis has become a key element of advanced nursing roles that are incorporating history taking and physical assessment into their remit of professional responsibilities. The aim of this article is to review the relevant definitions of different types of diagnoses, to describe the process of formulating a differential diagnosis including using clinical reasoning skills, and to use a case study as an example of differential diagnosis in advanced clinical practice.
physical assessment and is performed to determine whether normal bowel sounds are present. This a... more physical assessment and is performed to determine whether normal bowel sounds are present. This article evaluates the technique involved in listening for bowel sounds and the significance of both normal and abnormal auscultation findings. Review of the relevant literature reveals conflicting information and a lack of available research on the topic of auscultating bowel sounds. The clinical significance of auscultation findings when there is no evidence base to support the practice of listening for bowel sounds is explored by further analysis of the literature and reflection by the author on the teaching she received and her own personal practice.
Physical assessment is a new responsibility for many nurses in the UK who are expanding their par... more Physical assessment is a new responsibility for many nurses in the UK who are expanding their parameters of advanced clinical practice. A physical assessment framework can be used by both community and acute care nurses as a guide to the process of conducting a physical assessment. The framework presented here consists of the following sequence of steps: identifying the purpose of the assessment; taking a health history; choosing a comprehensive or focused approach; and examining the patient using the sequence of inspection, palpation, percussion and auscultation. The next step, interpretation of the clinical findings, which results in either the recognition of abnormality or identification of a differential diagnosis, then heconies the hasis for clinical decision making. This paper describes a comprehensive, headto-toe assessment as one example of the application of this physical assessment framework in clinical practice.
Education that captures the attention of students is an essential aspect of promoting meaningful,... more Education that captures the attention of students is an essential aspect of promoting meaningful, active learning. Rather than standing at the front of a group of learners simply speaking about a topic, teachers have the opportunity of livening up their teaching with humour, games, and other fun activities. This article critically evaluates the benefits and limitations of humour within nursing education as well as the use of games and fun activities as teaching strategies. Examples of various games and interactive activities are also provided.
Safe and high quality health care is underpinned by health care professionals possessing the know... more Safe and high quality health care is underpinned by health care professionals possessing the knowledge, skills and professional attributes which are necessary for their specific clinical speciality and area of practice. Education is crucial as it enables clinicians to learn and put into practice their specialist knowledge, skills and attributes. These elements will be based on clinical standards, which set the agenda for quality and safety in health care. The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon how a post-registration, degree-level critical care nursing course provided by an English university facilitates nurses to deliver high quality, safe nursing care for critically ill patients and their families. As a reflective analysis, the process of reflection will be guided and structured according to Rolfe's framework for reflective practice. The reflection is based upon the personal observations and teaching experiences of two university lecturers involved in the delivery of the critical care course. Critical care nursing education can incorporate informed practice, simulation and non-technical skills into post-registration critical-care nursing courses as a way of promoting high-quality, safe clinical practice in the critical care setting. This article provides examples from one course's experience with doing this and ends with specific recommendations for how critical care nursing courses can enhance further the promotion of quality and safety. Educators, mentors and students of post-registration critical care nursing courses are encouraged to explore the relevance of nursing education in promoting safe and high-quality clinical practice.
Care of the Acutely Ill Adult: An essential guide for …, Jan 1, 2010
... Family-centred health care promotes a partnership arrangement among the patient, family, and ... more ... Family-centred health care promotes a partnership arrangement among the patient, family, and providers using four core principles (Institute for Family-Centered Care 2008): 1 Dignity andrespect Listening to and honouring the patient and family's perspectives and ...
Background: The objective structured clinical examination is commonly referred to as an 'OSCE' an... more Background: The objective structured clinical examination is commonly referred to as an 'OSCE' and is a way of assessing a student's competency with clinical skills. The OSCE involves the student demonstrating a skill during a simulated clinical situation in a controlled environment instead of using real patients in the practice setting. Post-registered nursing courses are now beginning to use the OSCE as a form of summative assessment either as replacement for or in addition to skills assessed by a mentor in practice. Aim: This paper aims to reflect back on a recent experience of introducing an OSCE into a post-registered, degree level intensive care nursing programme. Methods: The process of reflection will be used throughout the analysis following the Six Thinking Hats tool. Conclusions: Organizing and implementing an OSCE for an intensive care nursing programme required a great deal of preparation and time of the teacher but also offered various benefits and advantages compared with other forms of assessment. Disadvantages and limitations of the OSCE are also identified in this article along with recommendations and practical advice for other teachers, examiners and students participating in OSCEs.
This article describes an initiative by an NHS trust to support its district nurses in developing... more This article describes an initiative by an NHS trust to support its district nurses in developing and using physical examination skills as part of patient assessment. The article outlines the process and suggests that the initiative is important to help meet the needs of older patients with long-term conditions.
Differential diagnosis has become a key element of advanced nursing roles that are incorporating ... more Differential diagnosis has become a key element of advanced nursing roles that are incorporating history taking and physical assessment into their remit of professional responsibilities. The aim of this article is to review the relevant definitions of different types of diagnoses, to describe the process of formulating a differential diagnosis including using clinical reasoning skills, and to use a case study as an example of differential diagnosis in advanced clinical practice.
physical assessment and is performed to determine whether normal bowel sounds are present. This a... more physical assessment and is performed to determine whether normal bowel sounds are present. This article evaluates the technique involved in listening for bowel sounds and the significance of both normal and abnormal auscultation findings. Review of the relevant literature reveals conflicting information and a lack of available research on the topic of auscultating bowel sounds. The clinical significance of auscultation findings when there is no evidence base to support the practice of listening for bowel sounds is explored by further analysis of the literature and reflection by the author on the teaching she received and her own personal practice.
Physical assessment is a new responsibility for many nurses in the UK who are expanding their par... more Physical assessment is a new responsibility for many nurses in the UK who are expanding their parameters of advanced clinical practice. A physical assessment framework can be used by both community and acute care nurses as a guide to the process of conducting a physical assessment. The framework presented here consists of the following sequence of steps: identifying the purpose of the assessment; taking a health history; choosing a comprehensive or focused approach; and examining the patient using the sequence of inspection, palpation, percussion and auscultation. The next step, interpretation of the clinical findings, which results in either the recognition of abnormality or identification of a differential diagnosis, then heconies the hasis for clinical decision making. This paper describes a comprehensive, headto-toe assessment as one example of the application of this physical assessment framework in clinical practice.
Education that captures the attention of students is an essential aspect of promoting meaningful,... more Education that captures the attention of students is an essential aspect of promoting meaningful, active learning. Rather than standing at the front of a group of learners simply speaking about a topic, teachers have the opportunity of livening up their teaching with humour, games, and other fun activities. This article critically evaluates the benefits and limitations of humour within nursing education as well as the use of games and fun activities as teaching strategies. Examples of various games and interactive activities are also provided.
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Papers by Heather Baid