CME

For the those lucky people who don't have to know what CME is, it is Continuing Medical Education. I listen to some podcasts that give me the option for free CME, Medscape sends me free CME quizzes, and I can go through my works' web portal for free CME but I really feel that I should get CMEs simply by sitting on my couch while these beautiful people I live with study.
Really, every nurse should live with med-students. One really gets a good idea of the hell they go through. The HESI was nothing.
Keep on keeping on doctors.

However, I'm still going to call you a 1 am if you forgot to write orders.

Testing

Testing the blogger app, because... Maybe we're doing this thing again.
Photo of cat, the Internet loves cats.

The Complexities of Simplicity

Meh.

Happy Halloween.

I've been working at making life simpler, then harder, then simpler again.

Bah.

I gave up on social media for a month. Did not really change much in my life. True, I am not in "contact" with as many people as often. (Those "facebook friends" that you have not seen since highschool.) Not a great loss.

I did not really blog. Someone had to have noticed. I think it was my Dad. Because of this I also did not spend as much time on the internet "researching" things. Maybe I was a bit more boring of a person.

I tried not to play on my phone when in the room with other people. This was probably the worst effect. I was not playing games on my phone, but everyone else was. So I was just sitting there trying to make conversation with people too busy flinging birds at pigs.

What this did do however, was make everything on my phone harder to use.

This is why and how I became a Socially Awkward Penguin.

Turns out if you do not have a facebook account, you pretty much do not exist and signing into THE INTERNET is near impossible.

So much for all that.

I posted all this to say.

I get a new phone today.

Maybe I'm back online.

Just when I thought about ending it all...

Just when I had some serious thoughts about giving up on my blog I get this gem.

The Potential Use of "Blogs" in Nursing Education

I'm my homework for today, I'm researching the different uses of technology in nursing education.

Tweets and Blogs are at the top of the list!

How crazy. I guess I'd simply never thought about it, but instructing students to utilize a blog for reflective assignments beats sitting through post-conference any day.

Schon addresses three steps in reflection.

1. Knowing in action

2.Reflection in action

3. Reflection on action

Knowing in action is the knowledge the student brings with them.

Reflection in action is the thinking that goes on while they are using their knowledge

Reflection on action is the thinking that happens after they've completed their task.

For example.

The student brings with them the technical knowledge of how to initiate a peripheral IV (and all the anxiety that comes with it.) Then he/she gets the opportunity to practice and while they are performing the task they are thinking about how it functions. After this activity is over the student reflects on how it went, what went wrong, what could have gone better, etc...

I have to go now, so more later, but turns out blogging is a future wave for nursing students.

I probably better keep my skills up.

Warning to my future students, follow my blog or fail.

My, how meta we are today.

Currently studying learning styles, learning intelligences, and learning strategies.
This entire Master's thing is so much fun.

Most of us know about the different types of learners. We've used it as an excuse for years as to why we didn't do as well as (insert THAT GUY here) on the exam.
"If only my teacher knew I was a VISUAL learner!" we wail in anguish as they ramble on indefinitely without a graph, picture, or powerpoint in sight.
Then there are the poor Kinesthetic learners who are convinced the entire education system is out to get them. 50 minutes of sitting still, "taking notes" then 10minutes to run across campus only to sit for 50 more minutes. When will it be lab day when I can actually DO something? Oh wait. This class doesn't have a lab component. Well, I'm boned.
Auditory learners, you poor kids. What's the point of a 50 page reading? I could read that book all day and still have no idea what the general topic is.

Sigh everyone is out to get us. All of us. Worthless educational program, not understanding MY needs. Only after my monies...

Have a bit of fun. Take one of the "Multiple Intelligences" test.
I liked this one, it's a self scoring excel spreadsheet (complete with graph for all you visual -spatial learners!)

I really was not that surprised with my results. I've always known I'm a left-leaning brain. I can do right-sided things, but it takes some work around. A bit of synestheia helps too. I scored the same on almost every category with the exception of musical/rhythmic (got none) and intrapersonal (much higher.)

After discussing the styles of learning, we moved on to strategies for learning.
They listed three.
Concept Maps
Mental Imagery
Storytelling

For those nurse's out there I don't have to explain Concept Maps. They're pretty much the pillars of nursing education. Draw a bunch of pictures to represent your patient and what's wrong with them and all the things we will do to fix them (don't forget to include how they feel about it!)

Mental Imagery dealt with that initial "gut" understanding or visualization of an idea. Those pictures you automatically associate with words. Triggered by language or music. It allows people to see the "big picture." Based on socialization and indoctrination if you ask me. How do I know when I say "tiger" if you're thinking of a Bengal or White tiger?

Storytelling- Acting out the scenario. This is the part of your CPR class when they tell you you've found a 40 year old unconscious on the golf course. "Hey! Are you ok? You, call 911. You, get the AED." Etc. Or, for example, when I was a baby nurse and freaking out about all the little things (IV starts, etc.) I wrote myself a little short story involving a new grad and the zombie-apocalypse while she was working a night-shift. Really helped me with my triage skills. ;)


Then it ended saying that another method of storytelling is blogging about your learning experience.
Whee.

All the while I was envisioning myself in my dream job, using all these skills to develop the most awesome educational materials ever.
Ah, the power of daydreams.

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out

This is a fantastic book.

I'm a bit of a scientist-stalker and one of my favorites is Richard Feynman. (Who doesn't like this guy?)

I'm reading along in this book and it's got loads of practical advice.

Here's an excerpt I particularly liked and wanted to share.

Link to the story here.

It really gets my attention that it actually doesn't matter all the naming conventions and idiosyncrasies about an object you could name. If you don't know anything about how it works, or why then you truly don't know the object.

For instance, pretty much everyone has that "friend" that they know really well. You know what they like and don't like and how they react to tapioca, but you never can quite remember their name. Do you know them? If you know about their family and favorite book and what they want to do this weekend or where they want to go on vacation do you know them? Or do you know the person you were just introduced to?

Learning different languages really puts things in perspective. There are so many ways to name yellow. How do you describe it?

In another Feynman book (Quantum Man by Laurence Krauss.) He challenges us to explain left and right to an alien. It's very complicated. Try to figure it out.

"The prize is the pleasure of finding the thing out." That's the short version of his answer to winning a Nobel Prize in physics. How many people do you know that after achieving something of that magnitude would blow it off so easily? How much better do you think everything could be if people were more focused on doing things because they're interested as opposed to doing them for the rewards?

I don't run to lose weight, or beat a certain speed. I run because it's fun. Some days its not fun, its frustrating. Other days its a blast and I can hardly wait for the chance. The pleasure I get from running isn't all the goal setting and achieving or medals and PRs. The pleasure is in getting out there and discovering what my body can and won't do.

Zumba?

Two things I learned from Zumba.

Know where YOUR water bottle is and wear socks.

I accompanied a co-worker to a free, work-sponsored zumba class. If I wasn't the only white-girl there at least I was the only one under the age of 40. It's interesting to be talking to someone about their grandchildren then have them explain to you how to "pop and lock-it."

Zumba is a combination of all those ridiculous moves you combined when you were 13 and rocking out in your bedroom to your cassette tapes. I ended up failing my arms and legs around for an hour while burning approximately 10 calories a minute.

Techincally, it's salsa, samba, bollywood, and belly-dance. However, to me it's more like the hokey-pokey with squat-lunges, and "little kicks."

Really wished I grabbed a pair of socks though..