Teaching Project Summary

NURS 402- Role Development for Baccalaureate Nurse as Educator

Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to provide the student with the opportunity to

summarize - in detail - the development, implementation, and evaluation of an instructional

intervention for a specific client or professional group.

Student Approach to Assignment

A huge need in the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) that I work in, is the need for

thorough completion of the SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation)

forms that we use to communicate with any staff taking care of each patient. Without

compliance, there is room for error and chaos. One of my personal characteristics is that I like to

be organized and help the next nurse out. By teaching how to correctly complete the form,

nurses can help each other out. By doing this teaching session, I learned that nurses are super

busy, especially in the PACU and have very little time to dedicate to an in-service.

Reason for Inclusion of this Assignment in the Portfolio

Not only did this project help me understand the unique learning styles of nurses (not just

people in general), but also help fix a true need in the PACU. I appreciate any teaching that can

be done at all in the PACU and can now understand the difficulty in creating a teaching session

that is both quick and to the point that it sticks. Our manager and assistant director, both, have

been trying to squeeze in learning opportunities any chance they get, and many times, they have

to do the sessions one-on-one in order to get it done. It is incredibly busy in the PACU and there

is a real challenge in finding the time to teach.

Core Competencies

Critical thinking

Evaluates nursing care outcomes through the acquisition of data and the questioning of

inconsistencies

o Inconsistencies and incompletions of the SBAR form were found through verbal

feedback from both PACU nurses and the floor nurses. Floor nurses were calling

back with questions about the blanks in the SBAR form. Other PACU nurses

were voicing frustration when picking up assignments from other nurses that the

forms were not filled out properly.

o By filling out the SBAR thoroughly, it was found that the flow from nurse to

nurse went smoothly, as well as preventing and obstacles to care.

Nursing Practice

Establishes and/or utilizes outcome measures to evaluate the effectiveness of care

o As a result of the increased compliance of completing the SBAR form, PACU

nurses stated more organization and efficiency between nurses and a better

knowledge of the patients history, assessment and plan.

o Medications given, past medical history, admission order (inpatient, outpatient or

observation), time in PACU, etc. were written on the SBAR clearly and allowed

the nurse following to easily access that information.

Communication

Expresses oneself and communicates effectively with diverse groups and disciplines using

a variety of media in a variety of contexts

o This was achieved through using posters, copies of the SBAR form for each nurse

attending the teaching session, power point presentation, and positive

reinforcement to nurses from different backgrounds, cultures and age groups.

o The poster was left in an easily accessible area for over 1 week for easy reference.

o Currently there are PACU nurses that are ages 27-65 years old, nurses with

backgrounds in ICU (cardiac, neuro, trauma), telemetry, labor and delivery, ER.

There are multiple cultures represented including: Haitian, Filipino, and different

areas of Africa such as Cameroon and Nigeria.

Teaching

Uses information technologies and other appropriate methods to enhance ones own

knowledge base

o Power point presentation was used during the teaching session. Nurses were

instructed to use the computer, more specifically Meditech in order to find more

specific information for the SBAR, such as orders for admission/discharge,

medication orders, orders specific to the surgeon/surgery.

o Nurses held each other accountable when information was missing in the SBAR,

more specifically admission order (inpatient, outpatient or observation) and the

in time to PACU.
 o Research was done before the teaching session to assess frustrations and errors

with the completion of the SBAR form. Both PACU and floor nurses were asked

to discuss their frustrations and errors they had encountered with use of the SBAR

form.

Research

Shares research findings with colleagues

o PACU nurses were notified of improvements with the form completion. Any

feedback from the floor, as well as feedback from other PACU nurses were shared

among staff.

Leadership

Articulates the values of the profession and the role of the nurse as member of the

interdisciplinary health care team

o The PACU nurse has an essential role of taking care of the patient after surgery,

recovering them from anesthesia. They serve as a middleman between the

surgeon and the floor nurse. The SBAR form is important because it explains

what the surgeon did, how the anesthesia team (anesthesiologist, CRNA) assisted

in the patients sedation, what orders were carried out, and, basically draws out a

clear picture of the patient for that day. The nurse helps facilitate care to the

patient from all angles.

 o There are opportunities throughout the day where the main nurse steps out on

break or leaves for the day and has to hand-off care to the next nurse. By

completing these SBAR forms, the nurse assuming care can quickly and

effortlessly jump in and help. This minimizes confusion and frustration.

o Nurses are held to high standards and should strive for improvement in their

career and patient care on a daily basis. The ultimate goal in the SBAR

completion is patient safety and satisfaction. We would all want a nurse who

knows what surgery was just done and how to properly take care of that patient

without frustrations or chaos.

Professionalism

Demonstrates accountability for ones own professional practice.

o After the teaching session, SBAR forms were checked throughout the day for

completion and nurses were verbally acknowledged for great work, or reminded

of the forms completion.

Culture

Articulates an understanding of how human behavior is affected by culture, race,

religion, gender, lifestyle, and age

o Some more experienced or older nurses found the SBAR form an inconvenience,

while others found it worthwhile and vital. No cultural boundaries were met,

even though there are some nurses from other countries with strong accents. No

boundaries consisting of race, religion, gender, or lifestyle were met.

 o With any change, there is expected to be resistance. Some of the older, more

experienced nurses might have tried to resist change because they were used to

doing things a certain way for years. In many areas of nursing, there have been

situations where older, more experienced nurses refused to change their way of

doing things and adapt to evidence based practice. The newer graduates were

taught from the beginning about adapting to evidence based practice.