Module #6

What did you like or dislike about taking on online course?

When taking an online class you are able to work at your own pace and log in at times that work with your schedule. 

What topic did you learn the most about and what was your favorite topic?

Blogging was something that was new to me, I had heard about blog posting, but had never used it before. I also liked learning about all the different types and ways of learning and communicating. The I.Q. test was interesting.

If you were the instructor, and this being the first course for all DNP and Master students, what would you do the same or different?

I think that more feedback would have been beneficial, and maybe more opportunities for student interaction. 

Module #5

What, if any relationship do you see between the information available on this webpage and regulatory, accreditation, and reimbursement issues and healthcare information system use and design?

After viewing the website, I think that there is a relationship between this website and regulatory, accreditation, and reimbursement issues and healthcare information system use. The websites mission states that its purpose is to improve quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of healthcare for the American people. This is also the goal of regulatory, accreditation, and reimbursement agencies in healthcare too. Agencies like the Joint Commission were designed to set standards for the quality of healthcare and improve safety. This website has a specific section addressing patient quality and safety, and there is also a section for clinical guidelines. Sites like these and regulatory type agencies are here for the common goal of protecting patients.

Module #4 question 2

2. How does nursing data relate to decision support?

Nurses need to be certain that the data that they are using is from a reliable source. Patient care is dependent on this. As I had discussed in my previous blog, knowing how to look for valid research can be somewhat difficult and time consuming if you don't know how to go about getting it. Best practices improve patient care. There have been many practices in the past that were proven to not benefit the patient, and some have proved to be harmful.  By having quality data, nurses are able to know and understand why they are doing things. By doing this they can collaborate an individualized plan of care that works for the patient.

When there are questions about a type of treatment for a patient, there are now many resources available to nurses that should be taken advantage of. We do not just have to take the word of the doctor, we can look for research on a particular topic and find out what is best for the patient.

Module #4 question 1

1. How did the readings influence your perception of your own clinical decision-making? How do we reconcile the value of nursing experience with known heuristics and biases used in human decision making?

The readings really opened my eyes when concerning clinical decision-making in providing nursing care. I can think of a couple of nurses that I know who rely primarily on their own heuristics and biases when providing care. I would say that these nurses are very intelligent and are great resources to have on our unit, but after reading these articles I wonder how much they really do know. This is not to say that experience and instinct don't account for anything. I think that having both of those things are part of what makes a good nurse. I do however see the problems that can arise by depending on heuristics and biases only.

I feel like nurses in general probably need more experience and teaching when it comes to nursing research. There is a lot of information out there, and it can be overwhelming if you don't know what you are looking for. I know that I have felt that way before, and am finding my nursing research class very helpful. Having the time to do this another concern, and I can see how nurses may tend to stick to their instincts when time is of the essence.  I do think that by becoming a better researcher, nurses will be able to navigate quicker and may be able to do this more frequently. There definitely needs to be a balance between instincts and knowledge from evidence based research.

Module 3

1. What Strengths were highlighted in the results of your multiple intelligence test? How do you interpret these results? What technologies might you incorporate to augment your personal learning based on these results?

After completing the multiple intelligence test, it showed that my strongest areas were Musical, followed closely with Intrapersonal and then Logical-Mathematical. Though these were the three highest scores, it didn't appear that I was significantly high in one category compared to another. Everything was fairly balanced. I have always loved music and did play the trombone all through junior high and part of high school. I think that music is a great way to relax and can be a therapy in itself. As far as the Intrapersonal category, I have always been a planner and have always made personal goals for myself to follow. I feel like I am very aware of my own strengths and weaknesses, and am constantly trying to work on improving areas that are weak. Logical-Mathematical was the third highest category highlighted. I have always enjoyed math and science in school, though I could never imagine myself working in an area of finance or banking. 

My lowest categories were Bodily-Kinestetics and Linguistics. This doesn't surprise me too much. I wouldn't say that I am completely uncoordinated when it comes to sports, but it is definitely something that I didn't really excel in. As far as linguistics go, I am not horrible at writing, but I have always hated public speaking (this is one of the weaknesses that I am working on). Overall, I felt the test was fairly accurate in the balance of my intelligence types. 

Technologies that I might incorporate for my personal learning really could include a variety of things. I enjoy the lectures that we are able to do via poly com, and find readings and PowerPoint presentations helpful too.

Module 2

Module 2

1. Describe your clinical problem and choice of electronic index. How did the index facilitate (or impede) your ability to construct an efficient search? How time consuming was your search? Would there be barriers to using indexes in daily practice?

I chose falls prevention for my clinical problem, and I used PubMed as my electronic index. I thought that the PubMed tutorial was very helpful in learning how to use PubMed, and also how to narrow down searches. I liked the fact that you could search through sources using all different ways. I set limits on my search, limiting it to no more than 10 years ago, English language, nursing journals, clinical trials, and age children 0-18, and adults 19+. This seemed to narrow down my search quite a bit. The actual search wasn't that time consuming for me, but taking the tutorial took awhile. I would recommend that nurses take the tutorial at some point when they have time, not when they are hurrying to find information. I think that a search could take them even longer if they didn't know how to navigate their way around the electrical index.

2. What features in your chosen reference management software can be used to sort, classify, and otherwise organize references? Describe software functionality that allows you to better organize and share information for efficient retrieval and use.

The software that I used was the Endnote software. Endnote can be a great resource to find sources and then organize them into to specific files. These files can be specifically named to correlate with various researches that need to be done. These files can then be saved and citations can also be imported in to papers to sort citations and form bibliographies. Endnote can be a great timesaver.

3. You used an electronic index, a guideline index, and a web search engine to retrieve information relevant to your clinical problem. Compare and contrast your results. Which resources were useful/not useful for your information retrieval task, and why? Identify some alternative strategies for retrieving relevant information - would context relevant information retrieval be useful?

I actually liked using the electronic index the best. Mainly, because you can use so many different strategies to limit and narrow down your search. I think the Endnote search was helpful and definitely can help get your information organized. I found the PubMed search through Endnote to be more difficult, this could be because I am still getting familiar with Endnote. I found that by doing a web search, I came across more organizations affiliated with the topic that I was searching. This could definitely be useful to find some guidelines, but there weren't many studies or research articles, which is nice to have when you are searching for best practices.

Module 2

Module 1

Module 1

Hello everyone, my name is Stephanie Dupree. I am currently working as the Assistant Nurse Manager of the Medical/Surgical floor at the Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County in Rock Springs, Wyoming. I have a Bachelor's degree in Nursing and am in the Distance Adult Nurse Practitioner Program. I think it is very important for the graduate level nurse to know information management because it is such a huge part of patient care. No matter what direction that each of us go into, we will be dealing with information management in some form. Patient Medical Records are all becoming computerized. Medication administration, Physician orders, charting, auditing charts, Performance Indicators, etc. are all becoming computerized. Really nurses of all levels need to have knowledge in this area.

The hospital that I work at just recently went completely computerized last February. It was a huge transition, especially since they did it all at once. We went from using paper for physician orders, charting, medication administration to being computerized on all of this. There as been a lot to learn. For the most part everyone is glad that we are now using computers for all of this. We now use BCMA for medication administration, and that is an improvement for patient safety. We are now able to track late and omitted medications quite accurately. By being able to track things such as this, we can find reasons behind what causes are behind these issues. Another challenge that we have had to deal with during this transition, is that we had to change our entire work flow. Nurses were used to doing things a certain way, and at first were trying to keep what was familiar to them. Things had to change, and new ways of doing things had to be tested and tried. Overall, things are much better, but we still seem to be learning new things every day.