November 26, 2012 (0830-1600)  CSU Simulation Day
I spent today with third semester prelicensure students in MSR 40 simulation lab at the university.  I was in charge of the fetal heart rate strip station. 

I had six groups of students, each almost a full hour, interpreting different case studies of FHR and uterine contraction strips.  We discussed the different components of the FHR and contraction documentation as well as appropriate nursing interventions.  It was a very busy and learning intensive day with lots of good questions and small group discussion.


Last day of clinical hours! Yay!

November 2 - 8, 2012 - Grading Papers

Correcting 12-17 pages of writing by OB students took me a very long time to do!   One paper would literally take me over an hour to grade.  I had my APA book, the rubric for the assignment to check off for content, an online source for grammar, and much much patience.  I did not realize how time-consuming grading written papers was going to be for me until I started the process.

Every night when I would finish grading several papers, I felt like I had worked on a very very difficult homework assignment of my own, one in which I had to think really really hard about.   I told my professor that I have a new found respect for nursing faculty!

11/01/2012   (1340-1640)  OB Lecture #4 - LAST ONE!!

Today was my last lecture for the OB PL students with Marla.  Every lecture has been a lot of work but this one took quite a bit longer.  In addition to the reading of the chapters and note-taking, I added a case study that I created from my clinical experience.  I had the students divide up into groups of 5-6, read and discuss the case study, then answer six questions regarding it.  After about 15min, we discussed the case study together and with PowerPoint slides, I gave the answers to the questions after discussion of each question.  I gave the students evaluation cards and I received great feedback regarding the case study.  They commented that it was good that they were given the opportunity to correlate what was discussed in the lecture with an actual case.  So, thumbs-up on case studies in the classroom!  It was a lecture that met all the goals I had set for myself.  At the end of the lecture, Marla gave me a stack of written papers to grade;  that's next on my To-Do List.