Letters
We welcome all readers’ letters, but reserve the right to edit them or withhold names and addresses. Please email: [email protected]
Please keep letters to a maximum of 150 words, and include your full name, address and a daytime telephone number
Employing extra nurses is an essential part of the solution to winter pressures It made my day to read that Eileen Sills, chief nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ in London, has recruited an additional 25 newly qualified nurses so that the hospital can open additional beds safely, as the need arises (Features March 5). It makes a welcome change from the usual cutbacks, belt-tightening and reduction in services. Nurses are an essential part of the solution to winter pressures in areas such as A&E, in both the short and long term. ‘Action stations’ initiatives such as this investment at Guy’s and St Thomas’ need to be welcomed and supported. More needs to be done throughout the health service to match the staff to the needs. If it really is going to be the norm that it takes more than a week to get a GP appointment, we need to invest more in the front lines of walk-in clinics, A&E and out of hours care. Nurses have the potential to be the key service providers. Jayne Thomas, Cardiff
ONLINE COURSES DO NOT HELP US TO INTERPRET NON-VERBAL CUES Daniel Allen’s ‘Learning in a virtual world’ (Careers December 18) pondered the future of nursing education as massive open online courses (MOOCs) gain popularity and expand their content and offerings. Could MOOCs eventually replace face-to-face courses in a nursing degree programme? Consider MOOCs in the context of Bloom’s taxonomy, which divides educational objectives into cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. Research demonstrates that online learning environments are not adequately meeting the objectives of the affective domain. I draw your attention to the 2012 article by Janet Resop Reilly et al 32 march 12 :: vol 28 no 28 :: 2014
“Me and My Computer”: Emotional Factors in Online Learning, published in Nursing Education Perspectives. One of the most important tasks of the nurse is to establish a therapeutic relationship with the patient. The nurse needs to be able to notice and interpret non-verbal cues – an opportunity that is missing from an online course. While clinical experiences address the psychomotor domain, MOOCs may only satisfy the objectives of the cognitive domain. I hope that the leaders of nursing degree programmes will exercise caution when considering a shift to more online coursework. Karen Gibbons, nursing student, Curry College, Milton, Massachusetts, USA
I HOPE THAT MY TIME IN HOSPITAL WILL MAKE ME A BETTER NURSE As a surgical nurse, I found my recent admission to hospital for two days difficult. Despite being used to the routines there, I felt a great sense of isolation and of being institutionalised. I had never been an inpatient before.
Until you have personal experience of this, you can never fully appreciate how scary it feels, especially when you are unsure of what is happening. Being starved constantly and hearing myself referred to as ‘bed number so and so’ made me an irate patient, who felt on the wrong side of the nurses’ desk. I can only hope it will make me a better nurse in the future – remembering the importance of introducing yourself to your patients so they know who is caring for them, and communicating regularly. Name and address supplied
SHOULD PATIENTS BE CARED FOR IN A CULTURALLY STANDARD WAY? Ami David (Letters February 19) makes some interesting points about lack of career progression among black and minority ethnic (BME) nurses that raise many questions and need further, in-depth exploration. Is discrimination, as she puts it, a low tolerance of cultural variations in
NURSING STANDARD
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 20, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
We welcome all readers’ letters, but reserve the right to edit them or withhold names and addresses. Please email: [email protected]
Please keep letters to a maximum of 150 words, and include your full name, address and a daytime telephone number
Employing extra nurses is an essential part of the solution to winter pressures It made my day to read that Eileen Sills, chief nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ in London, has recruited an additional 25 newly qualified nurses so that the hospital can open additional beds safely, as the need arises (Features March 5). It makes a welcome change from the usual cutbacks, belt-tightening and reduction in services. Nurses are an essential part of the solution to winter pressures in areas such as A&E, in both the short and long term. ‘Action stations’ initiatives such as this investment at Guy’s and St Thomas’ need to be welcomed and supported. More needs to be done throughout the health service to match the staff to the needs. If it really is going to be the norm that it takes more than a week to get a GP appointment, we need to invest more in the front lines of walk-in clinics, A&E and out of hours care. Nurses have the potential to be the key service providers. Jayne Thomas, Cardiff
ONLINE COURSES DO NOT HELP US TO INTERPRET NON-VERBAL CUES Daniel Allen’s ‘Learning in a virtual world’ (Careers December 18) pondered the future of nursing education as massive open online courses (MOOCs) gain popularity and expand their content and offerings. Could MOOCs eventually replace face-to-face courses in a nursing degree programme? Consider MOOCs in the context of Bloom’s taxonomy, which divides educational objectives into cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. Research demonstrates that online learning environments are not adequately meeting the objectives of the affective domain. I draw your attention to the 2012 article by Janet Resop Reilly et al 32 march 12 :: vol 28 no 28 :: 2014
“Me and My Computer”: Emotional Factors in Online Learning, published in Nursing Education Perspectives. One of the most important tasks of the nurse is to establish a therapeutic relationship with the patient. The nurse needs to be able to notice and interpret non-verbal cues – an opportunity that is missing from an online course. While clinical experiences address the psychomotor domain, MOOCs may only satisfy the objectives of the cognitive domain. I hope that the leaders of nursing degree programmes will exercise caution when considering a shift to more online coursework. Karen Gibbons, nursing student, Curry College, Milton, Massachusetts, USA
I HOPE THAT MY TIME IN HOSPITAL WILL MAKE ME A BETTER NURSE As a surgical nurse, I found my recent admission to hospital for two days difficult. Despite being used to the routines there, I felt a great sense of isolation and of being institutionalised. I had never been an inpatient before.
Until you have personal experience of this, you can never fully appreciate how scary it feels, especially when you are unsure of what is happening. Being starved constantly and hearing myself referred to as ‘bed number so and so’ made me an irate patient, who felt on the wrong side of the nurses’ desk. I can only hope it will make me a better nurse in the future – remembering the importance of introducing yourself to your patients so they know who is caring for them, and communicating regularly. Name and address supplied
SHOULD PATIENTS BE CARED FOR IN A CULTURALLY STANDARD WAY? Ami David (Letters February 19) makes some interesting points about lack of career progression among black and minority ethnic (BME) nurses that raise many questions and need further, in-depth exploration. Is discrimination, as she puts it, a low tolerance of cultural variations in
NURSING STANDARD
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 20, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
