Summary of learning

It is hard to believe that we are already at the end of the semester as it only seemed like yesterday that I spent hours upon hours editing and writing my first post. Over the course of the term, I have become more comfortable sharing my thoughts in the written word for all to see and the next hurdle is speaking for a video recording as no matter how hard I try it just sounds fake! There must be some kind of switch in brain that tells me to speak funny or at least I hope that I do not sound like that each day! I can’t do anything about my voice it just seems to be the tone. In fact I have had that issue the whole semester as I did podcasts for one of the nursing classes I was helping with. When I played back the recording it sounded like I was dragging out each word so I recorded it a hundred times and I think by the end I was speaking so fast no one understood. I think that I am going to have to continue to listen, record, re-record and yet again until I can find that happy medium.

For my final summary I chose to do a Shauna’s mindmap of learning. You can see a picture of a portion of it below or click on the pdf. The mindmap is a diagram used to represent words and ideas. I chose to so the mindmap as I will be using this next term with my clinical group to map out anything such as the pathophysiology of a disease process or why you would give one pain medication versus another. As these programs are freely available on the web, I think it will be good to try. The program I used was called FreeMind. Overall I found the program pretty easy to use but it seemed quite restrictive. You could continue to add on levels of headings (child nodes move you to the next level or a sibling node adds another piece to one common node) but once you continue to add what you learned it really becomes crowded. The advantage of using the mindmap is that all of this is centered around one topic which for this assignment was my learning. As the mindmap itself would not be that exciting to share in class on Tuesday I made a short video to accompany the mindmap. I have it attached below.

I will take many things away from the course. Looking back I believe that we really did develop our own personal learning network. We were able to connect with each other through the use of tools such as good reader and twitter (okay so I promise I will get better at this and making a video). I value sharism and throughout the semester I really tried to put myself out there so that I could get feedback and learn from my mistakes. I experimented with twitter, found tweet deck to be a wonderful tool to help me sort through all of the tweets. I also joined LinkedIn and started the technology nurse group on Facebook. As I wanted to continue to try new things in the classroom, my PowerPoint slides became only pictures. I tried various tools such as digital storytelling and introduced (yes introduced) the nursing students to twitter as they knew nothing about it.

I really began to put myself out there on the internet so I thought for the fun of it I would put my name in google alert and it alerted me once (but that is a start!).

We were asked if we put our best work out on the Internet and I would have to yes I have. My NING site that I have developed will hopefully be able to become public in the next few months (just have to work out the ethics). I am very excited about this site as it is a way for patients with heart failure, family members, friends and health care providers to come together to learn from each other and make connections. I will be talking more about this project in a later post.

With all of the this learning, the question becomes where can you learn from me? I hope to use Twitter more next term with my clinical group. My supervisor and I will be working on an open access journal for nursing which will be exciting. I also plan to continue with this blog so that others can learn from my success and my misses (again sorry for voice recordings).

I learned so much from all of you and hope that you too will continue with your blogs if not I will follow you on Twitter.

Reflections of the term…

  by  jkmallen 

I am working on finishing up my final summary for class and find myself amazed by how much I have learned (as well as how much I still have to learn). Taking this class has really opened doors for me that I would never have imagined at the beginning of the semester. I had an opportunity to share what I was doing in the classroom and clinical with nursing leaders across Canada- I did not think that opportunity would ever come about. As well I will be going to Awassa, Ethiopia to work on areas such as the use of simulation in the nursing program and the use of a variety of social media tools to improve communication.

I look forward to the many adventures ahead of me and I thank you all for helping me learn and grow throughout the term.

This will be the first time I will have traveled to Ethiopia- the only advice I have been given is to stay away from the hippos and watch out for hyenas at night. Living in Saskatchewan, I have not had to learn how to deal with an angry hippo- I guess I will just have to stay away.

Any other recommendations or advice?

I am back from Toronto

  by  St Stev 

I was in Toronto this week for a CASN–Infoway symposium discussing nursing informatics. I had the opportunity to not only listen and participate in the discussion with the deans of many nursing programs across Canada, but share with them tools that I have learned in eci831 and tried in both the classroom and clinical settings. In clinical I shared how I use a variety of apps to help students understand more about the body and pathophysiology, how I use you tube to help students learn to interpret ECGs and how QR codes can be used in the clinical settings. The discussion was a very important first step as we begin to develop competencies and discuss issues around this area for nursing. It was definitely a start in beginning a discussion around nursing informatics. Many stated that the using the words nursing informatics implied something difficult? What do you think when you hear the words nursing informatics?

I tried out digital storytelling in one of the classes I taught on Monday

  by  ssh 

For me, some of the most powerful tools that I have been introduced to this semester all centered around the use of photographs. At the beginning of the semester in our eci831 class, Alec introduced us to the site  Dear Photograph and I have not stopped talking about it since. I spent hours reading and looking at all of the photographs. I have told many to check it our. I keep going back to the site as well. When I went to link the website here, I spent more time looking at the latest photos. I am trying to figure out how I can use this in clinical…still trying to figure it out. I think it is a great option for those dealing with change, death or dying. It is a great site to help work through those emotions (for some).

So I Monday, I had the opportunity to teach a fourth year nursing class. This class came about right after my introduction to digital story-telling so I had to try one in class. The topic of the class was on nurse fatigue and patient safety. I had the students chose 5 photos that told their story of fatigue (from clinical, school, life etc) which is a bit of a variation. The students loved it and had such a great time. This class came together, shared stories, laughed and I do believe learned much more than the use of another more traditional method. I would definitely use this again as it introduced the students to another teaching tool that they can use in their clinical practice, opened the door to a rich discussion on fatigue, helped them learn more about copyright and they really did come together to support one another.

And I did tell them to check out the dear photograph site….

My 5 card Flickr story..

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Five Card Story: Where am I going after my comps?

a Five Card Flickr story created by Shauna Davies

flickr photo by Serenae

flickr photo by Serenae

flickr photo by Choconancy1

flickr photo by krutscjo

flickr photo by krutscjo

As I am sitting her sorting through all of the articles that I have read for my PhD classes, I wonder where my path will take me. After my classes, I will have the opportunity to go to Ethiopia for a three month internship where I will be working with other students around the issue of food security. My role will not only be nursing but trying out social media tools learned in class. I can see that these tools will not only be useful for those in Canada but all over the world!

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As with many stories, mine is yet unfinished

So today I had a discussion about ethics…

  by  justinbaeder 

Today in another class we had a guest speaker talk about ethics in relation to our research interests. The guest was from the Behavioral Ethics Research Board and we reviewed changes to TCPS2. It was a very interesting discussion as we began to explore issues related to the Internet and the use of chat rooms. The focus on the discussion was around confidentiality and privacy on public forums. Basically it came down to the following:

• if the chat room is open to the public and does not require log-in you probably can do the research without seeking a consent
• if you are required to sign in to the chat room, you are required to obtain ethics approval and will need a consent by the participant.
• the interesting point (which was new to me) was that in order to receive ethics approval, you must first have the permission from the web host to see if they allow researchers to conduct any type of research on their site.

I would like to further expand on my final project by using this in my PhD program. So I will contact the NING executive and find out if that is a possibility…wish me luck!

This seems to not be that easy of a process as there is no information on the terms of service or in the help section so I will send in a request to the help desk.

Would you use skype to seek medical attention?

  by  bitzcelt 

To SWIM?

  by  JD Hancock 

Last night, in EC&I 831 we had a guest speaker, George Siemens who introduced us to the acromyn SWIM in open online courses. SWIM stands for sensemaking wayfinding information model. Sensemaking is  a process of making connections, however it is more than connecting the dots, it is also about learning which dots are important to focus on and which dots are not important (considering dots as pieces of information).  As previously discussed, I would like to develop an open community for patients with heart failure and their caregivers so that they may have the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience with each other. Health care professionals would also be part of the group and will be able to share their knowledge and experience with the patients and caregivers as well.  Sensemaking and wayfinding is an important aspect to consider. I am looking at further advancing the Theory of Online Social Support by Sheryl Perreault LaCoursiere when I eventually write my comprehensive exams and develop a proposal for my research (still very much a work in progress).

The Theory of online social support was developed by LaCoursiere to describe the process of online social support through interpersonal relationships with other persons who are mostly unknown to each other. The theory includes the four concepts of nursing’s metaparadigm which consists of nursing, person, environment and health. Nursing comprises the thoughts and behaviors of the nurse who engages in online social support activities. The person is represented by the individual or groups of individuals, who seek online social support and engage in health-seeking behavior. The environment is virtual as it includes cyberspace and online environments. Health is viewed as a dynamic process that fluctuates over time and may include both chronic or acute health conditions that may affect the health status or health perception of the individual.

The two focal concepts of the online social support theory include online social support and linking. Online social support is defined as the “cognitive, perceptual, and transactional process of initiating, participating in, and developing electronic interactions to seek beneficial outcomes in health care status, perceived health, or psychosocial processing ability”(p. 66) and is represented as a trajectory that considers health status in relation to support needs.

Linking is the second focal concept and is defined as the “conscious and/or unconscious process of relating and weaving emerging awareness to previously learned thoughts or information” (p 67). It is described as a process similar to navigating a web page. Information and thoughts are sorted and retrieved as needed when situations occur over time. The individual builds a collection of information which provides support through transactions with other individuals in the online group and by the nature of the information itself.

I believe that by exploring coherence, it will help to further advance this theory

For my final project…

  by  linh.ngân 

For my final project, I am interested in using NING to develop a community for patients with heart failure and their support persons. As a Registered Nurse, I see patients readmitted with a diagnosis of exacerbation of heart failure on a regular basis. We are fortunate in Saskatchewan to have 2 heart failure clinics, one in Regina and another in Saskatoon however at the present time not everyone has equal access to the services and the majority of patients only receive information from their doctor. Web-based interventions have been shown to be effective for this patient population as they provide education, social support,increased knowledge and up to date information. In studies done to date, the patients and caregivers only have access to the information for short periods of time. Thus I would like to develop a site where patients and caregivers can receive current information and support from others within a community. I will be developing this site based upon current guidelines but will not be able to have patients or caregivers access this site at this time. In order for patients and caregivers to access the site, I will need to obtain Ethics approval from several sites which will take longer than my time in the course. However I hope to have feedback from Registered Nurses and others working with heart failure patients. I will also reflect on my journey creating the site so please follow me as I begin…

References:

Boyde, M., Tuckett, A., Peters, R., Thompson, D., Turner, C., & Stewart, S. (2009). Learning for heart failure patient (The L-HF patient study). Journal of Clinical Nursing, 18, 2030-2039. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2008.02716.x
Boyde, M., Tuckett, A., Peters, R., Thompson, D., Turner, C., & Stewart, S. (2009). Learning style and learning needs of heart failure patients (The Need2Know-HF patient study). European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 8, 316-322. doi:10.1016/j.ejcnurse.2009.05.003
Delgado, D., Costigan, J., Wu, R., & Ross, H. J. (2003). An interactive Internet site for the management of patients with congestive heart failure. Canadian Journal of Cardiology, 19(12), 1381-1385.
Heo, S., Moser, D. K., Lennie, T. A., Riegel, B., Chung, M. L. (2008). Gender differences in and factors related to self-care behaviors: A cross-sectional, correlational study of patients with heart failure. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 45, 1807-1815. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2008.05.008
Nahm, E., Blum, K., Scharf, B., Friedmann, E., Thomas, S., Jones, D., & Gottlieb, S. S. (2008). Exploration of patients’ readiness for an eHealth management program for chronic heart failure: A preliminary study. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 23(6), 463-470.
Piette, J. D., Gregor, M. Share, D., Heisler, M., Bernstein, S. J., Koelling, T., & Chan, P. (2008). Improving heart failure self-management support by actively engaging out-of-home caregivers: Results of a feasibility study. Congestive Heart Failure, January February, 12-18.
Strömberg, A., Dahlström, U., & Fridlund, B. (2006). Computer-based education for patients with chronic heart failure: A randomised, controlled, multicentre trial of the effects on knowledge, compliance and quality of life. Patient Education and Counseling, 64, 128-135. doi:10.1016/j.pec.2005.12.007
Westlake, C., Evangelista, L. S., Strömberg, A., Ter-Galstanyan, A., Vazirani, S., & Dracup, K. (2007). Evaluation of a web-based education and counseling pilot program for older heart failure patients. Progress in Cardiovascular Nursing, Winter, 20-26.

Thinking inside of the box?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License by Rebecca Lader

Reading the article by Tom Haymes I am struck how similar my experience is to what he is talking about in the article. I agree that most people do not approach technology in the same way as I envision its use. For example when I tell others about my research interests, I usually receive a puzzled stare or will be told to pick another topic that relates more to nursing. For me, nursing and technology go hand in hand. I am constantly trying new things- I started using chat rooms 7 years ago to do post-conferences with students. I found these to be effective as traditionally post-conferences were done at the end of a twelve hour shift when people are tired, hungry and just wanted to go home. So I used the chat room for the the course and had the students meet with me online at a pre-arranged time. This worked well as students were more energetic, actively participated, and used websites to provide others with additional information about the topic for discussion. I found that students who did not speak up regularly in the small group shared more with others and better yet, I had a copy of the transcript to record what was said.

So now if you fast forward several years, I have not seen much uptake with technology in the area in which I work. Those that use technology do use it and look for ways use to use tools. Those that do not use it, simply do not and do not see the need to change their practice. We have a variety of tools available for practice, so why are we not effectively using them? Haymes states that one possible reason is the fear of failure. In order to help academics to overcome this fear, Haymes provides the following three strategies:

1) make users aware of the technology
2) make the technology easy to use
3) once in use, the technology must become essential to their lives, work etc

I agree with his strategy as obviously people are not going to use it if they do not know about it. If the technology is not easy to use, then why would you every expect anybody to use it? Once it becomes part of your life, technology really does become essential to daily living (I know that I spend most of my day on the computer). The biggest area that needs to be changed is the reluctance to face change which Haymes addresses in the article. This is what I see as the biggest threat to technology uptake. For example we have the technology to do classes online yet I am still required to drive 5 hours for each class. The reason given is that a big part of the program is meeting face to face. My question to you is if I am able to use videoconferencing or Skype are we not meeting face to face? I can see you, can you see me? Maybe not if you are thinking inside of the box.