Goodbye Roosters :(

Hope you're not someone else's chicken tenders.

So sad to send our babies away :(

Why did you have to find your voice?! Why?

Farewell Dash. May you fertilize many eggs.

Module 6

What is one new thing you learned in this module, or something that you knew but had forgotten?

In Curtin's article, "Ethics in Informatics: The Intersection of Nursing, Ethics, and Information Technology," I was reminded about the patient's responsibility in their own healthcare (2005). Each patient has choices regarding their own health and our job as a healthcare provider is to provide assistance with those choices.  We can guide them toward information about their own health and influence their decisions but must keep in mind that we may not share the same values.  As providers, we are honored to be a part of patients' lives and can truly help patients by guiding them through their personal choices.  Information through technology can be overwhelming but a useful tool for patients to increase understanding of their own health.  Providers can assist patients with information management and help them weigh their health choices.


Curtin, L. L. (2005, October). Ethics in informatics: The intersection of nursing, ethics, and information technology. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 29(4), 349-352.

These Days

Just a snap shot of what's been going on these days...

With the Boggess's at the Bees baseball game

David  Asher Boggess being cute...Goodness!

First harvest: Kale!

Steak with the kale mixed w/ mashed potatoes

Schleining with Aviana at the Decemberists show

Our little rooster. Unfortunately he can't stay.  Anybody want the cutest, fluffiest little squawker?

One of our teenagers

Ramona and Redbud challenging you to a staring contest

Cornhole

I recently polished off a set of cornhole boards while Mrs. RN made the bags to complete a fully functioning cornhole set.

For those of you wondering what cornhole is, listen to Stephen Colbert explain it (fast forward to the 0:47 mark):

Really, it's just a backyard/ tailgating game where you pitch bean bags at angled boards. 1 point if it lands on the board, 3 for getting the bag in the hole, first team to 21 points wins. But really everybody wins, provided they have a cold beverage in their non-throwing hand.

Speaking of beverages, may I recommend our recent favorite: The Shandy. Half beer, half lemonade, and all delicious. I think it is safe to say it is our drink of this summer.

Anyways, here's the boards and thanks for reading the equivalent of me tooting my own horn.

Module 5

How did the readings influence your perception of your own clinical decision-making?

Using clinical decision support systems can efficiently link evidence based practice at the point of care.  Searching for the most current research that guides practice is time consuming and often neglected.  With a system that is connected electronically to current guidelines for health clinicians, evidence based practice can be easily accessed with efficient time savings.  When the computer system matches patient characteristics to evidence based practice guidelines and these are then followed, practice variability is reduced and patient outcomes are improved (Anderson & Wilson, 2008).

The reading on heuristics and biases within the subject of decision making makes me more aware of where my decisions are based from.  My decisions are based from representativeness when dealing with probability of something belonging to another thing, availability of scenarios of something occurring in the past, or adjustment from an anchor for numerical judgments based off another more solid number (Tversky & Kahnemen, 1974) .  Though it is a stretch, I may be able to apply learning where my judgments or intuition come from to help me be more aware of potential errors in order to prevent them.  By analyzing past experiences, my intuition can be fine-tuned to produce better and more accurate decisions.

References:

Anderson, J., & Willson, P. (2008, May). Clinical decision support systems in nursing. Computers,

Informatics, Nursing.

Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974, September 27). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases.

Science, 185(4157).

Module Four

What sort of teaching is done in your professional role? Is there any nursing/health care provider role that does not involve teaching in some manner?

In my current role as a nurse at the urgent care (UC), not much time is allocated to patient teaching.  We see patients for an average of ten minutes each.   When I do get an opportunity to do patient teaching, something inside me ignites.  The kind of patients that we see usually do not have a basic sense of health literacy.  This means that I can teach something simple, like what quantifies as a fever or what the dangers of high blood pressure are, and we have jumped very far forward in their basic health knowledge.  This might prevent another costly visit to the UC by measuring a 99.2 degree temperature and the patient now understanding that this is not a fever.  Or in the case of the blood pressure, their life may have been extended 15 years by teaching them about the benefit of BP medicine.  I often teach about home wound care, the signs and symptoms to be looking for that would require a return visit or emergency room visit, adequate hydration, and Benadryl use.  Another form of teaching is explaining to patients and families about the procedures and medications that I do and give.  Involving the patient in every intervention is good practice for all nurses and health care providers.  There is no health care provider role that can avoid teaching.  All nurses and healthcare providers are in the healthcare field for the betterment of patients and therefore all must be involved with teaching our patients and colleagues disease prevention, health promotion, illness intervention, and follow up care.

Below is a link to a wiki article from our class for mobile devices that assist in providing care.

  http://editthis.info/nurs_6004_mobile_devices/Main_Page

The Palisades in the Targhee National Forest...Idaho

The Shuffle

I'll let you know if we get giardia if a couple of weeks

Little creek that turned into raging river from all the snow melt

Who knew Idaho was so beautiful?

Yes, this really is a moose!