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Licensed Practical Nurse ( post LPN) to Bachelor of Nursing (BN) Program

Athabasca University

Guide to Nursing 437: Professional Practice in Family Health Promotion

Clinical Experience

The following information is intended as a general guide for preceptors and students to plan for the Nursing 437 clinical experience. Students and preceptors should shape an experience that fits the clinical setting as well as the student’s needs and interests.

NURS 437 is a course based on the utilization of a collaborative approach that focuses on client identification of their health goals, strengths and resources. The focus of this course is on:

· family and community health, health promotion and illness prevention;

· understanding of the determinants of health and their use in nursing practice;

· assessment of the needs of clients, families and communities;

· expansion of the understanding of resources and nursing practice;

· understanding what informs practice and resource use;

· understanding and emphasizing family and community strengths.

In planning the NURS 437 clinical experience, consider the following:

· all AU post LPN to BN students have a minimum of 1700 hours practice as an LPN;

· the strengths of students tend to be life and employment experience, maturity and a solid work ethic;

· it is important for students to work consistently on moving beyond tasks with a focus on enhancing understanding of nursing practice and clinical resources;

· clinical experiences should focus on active involvement with clients, families, and communties;

· clinical goals should focus on a student’s ability to assess the needs of clients, families and communities and follow through with a thoughtful and informed plan of care;

· emphasis should be placed on what informs nursing practice and resource use.

Weekly Plan : Community and family health is a vast and in-depth area of nursing practice. Students are not expected to gain experience in all areas. When students focus on one or two areas of practice, the clinical experience is richer. The following is an example of how clinical time could be planned.

Week 1

Days 1 & 2

· General orientation to clinical site, introduction of student to staff members,

familiarization to clinical site routines, and orientation to preceptor’s area of specialization/nursing practice.

· Familiarize yourself with agency policy and expectations.

· Review clinical self evaluation tool.

Days 3 to 5

· Students should consider one or two broad areas of practice they would like to focus on. These areas could provide focus your scholarly paper and reflect areas for strength and growth outlined in your LPN-BN Self Assessment. For example:

- Assessment of growth and development of 0-12 month age group during clinic visits. This could include the assessment and understanding normal growth and development milestones, understanding variations of normal findings and addressing abnormal findings (this should include client teaching with parents).

- The influence of culture on nursing practice and client care. This could include strategies for working with families with English as a second language, the provision of culturally and religiously sensitive care. The ethical challenges that can arise should also be considered.

- Obesity in school age children . This could include acquiring background knowledge of nutrition, understanding current issues and trends in nutrition as well as using innovative teaching strategies to address nutrition concerns such as obesity (including current tools and resources). Students should work towards assessment and teaching sessions with clients.

- Reduction of high risk behaviors in teens. This could include understanding the rationale for and participating in programs directed at reducing high risk health behaviors such as smoking, drug and alcohol use.

· LPN-BN Self Assessment should be complete. (Consult instructor for due date).

Week 2

Days 1 & 2

· Outline plan for achieving above goals.

· Set target dates for demonstrating an in-depth understanding of focus areas to preceptor. Plan a time for client assessment and teaching.

Day 3 to 5

· Work towards achieving above goals.

· First draft of scholarly paper should be complete, consult you clinical instructor for specific due dates.

· Formative (midterm) clinical self evaluation should be complete. Please review with preceptor.

Week 3 and 4

· Continue to refine focus areas and increase independence. Ideally students will add to, or expand focus areas throughout the clinical placement as time and opportunity permits. For example:

- add addressing the nutritional needs of the 1-12 months of age to the growth and

development focus outlined above.

- add understanding the influences of self esteem on children and teen health

behaviors to the reduction of high risk behaviors focus outlined above.

· Summative (Final) Clinical Evaluation is due week 4. Both Preceptor and student should have input and/or confer during the completion of this document.