Narrative Summary

Ashley Cavanna MSN, RN

Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing

January 9, 2022

 
 Narrative Summary

Creating this portfolio for advancement has been difficult because I am not someone who

takes the time to recognize my own successes. I have been grateful for the dedicated time, energy

and focus on recognizing and celebrating my accomplishments in the brief time I have been with

the College. I am honored to be a member of this team that positively impacts the lives of our

students every single day. My peers, their accomplishments and their teaching expertise inspires

me everyday to be the best version of myself as a nurse and as an educator. Thank you for

reading this narrative and for considering me for promotion to Assistant Professor.

This narrative summary will provide insight into my nursing education journey and

provide rationale for my promotion from Instructor to Assistant Professor at the Bon Secours

Memorial College of Nursing. I joined the Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing in 2019,

which has been quite the journey, considering March 13, 2020 changed course delivery, the

program, and the world. Prior to joining the College, I worked as the Nurse Director of the ICU

at St. Mary’s Hospital, which I thoroughly enjoyed, however after the birth of my twins in 2018,

it became clear that hospital administration was not the best fit professionally and personally.

The decision to apply and join the college as an instructor was and still is as one of the best

decisions I have ever made. Even when the world changed in March of 2020, I have been

challenged professionally and personally in a way that has provided growth and fulfillment.

Teaching

“As a nurse we have the opportunity to heal the mind, soul, heart and body of our

patients, their families, and ourselves. They may forget your name, but they will never forget

how you made them feel.” This quote from Maya Angelou puts in to words my nursing
philosophy much better than I will ever be able to, which directly translates to my teaching

philosophy. Patients will not remember our names, nor will they remember each individual nurse

that cares for them, but as they leave the hospital, they will remember how they felt and how

they were treated. Respect, dignity, and love can change the way a patient perceives their entire

experience. I believe this can be spoken for nursing students. As students work through the

program, they are not going to remember every single detail taught to them, however they will

remember the love and respect they receive and how that affects their confidence.

Curriculum

NUR 2102: Health Assessment

During the Fall 2019 semester, I had the opportunity shadow JeanMarie Digges during

NUR 2102 lab, which helped “ease” me into the higher-education, academia environment as an

educator. During this lab I developed and improved my communication skills, teaching skills and

confidence in front of the nursing student. Although I only spent one semester in this course, my

time with Sophomore level students, shadowing JeanMarie made a significant and lasting impact

on my educator trajectory.

NUR 3112P: Adult Nursing Science II, Practicum

As a new educator, coming from the clinical environment, this practicum course felt

comfortable and quickly became my two favorite days of the week. Practicum is about learning,

however it is not just about learning all the “cool” skills, as our students like to think it is. I have

found that practicum at the Junior 2 level is about pulling it all together, creating those “ah ha”

moments and building each student’s confidence through guidance and mentorship. Mentoring

my NUR 3112P students is my favorite part of this job, as I watch them grow nursing skills, time
management skills, professional behavior, and their confidence. I tell my students at the end of

each semester that I am more than their instructor, but a mentor and future peer, who will be

proud to work side-by-side with them in the future.

Cue Spring Break of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic begins, and we are tasked as faculty

to pivot and create a virtual version of our program. It was at this time that I was tasked with

taking over the course from Melissa Roberson so that she could focus on transitioning NUR

3112. In transparency, I was still very much a novice educator, still learning Blackboard, the

course and how to teach, and I was expected to create alternative assignments and virtual

simulations. This semester pushed me to learn, grow and develop my skills quickly,

independently and in real-time as we successfully finished the Academic Year. The takeaway

from this semester was that I could, in fact, be a successful and effective educator.

Fall of 2020 I transitioned, officially, to the course lead of NUR 3112P, which provided

the opportunity to make changes to the course in response to my experiences, the pandemic and

based on feedback from my peers. It was identified that related to the pandemic, course failures,

and other extenuating circumstances many students would have been out of the clinical

environment for more than 6 months. Entering the second semester of Junior year with this

significant gap in acute care experience presented the student with challenges related to

confidence and skill competency. In consideration of the feedback from all the NUR 3112P

faculty, I created the concept of Boot-camp, which is a skills fair for students to take part in the

first practicum day. Prior to the Fall 2020 semester, students would meet their practicum faculty

in the hospital for a 4-hour day to provide basic ADL’s, which at the Junior 2 level was not

beneficial for students. The boot-camp provided the student with the opportunity to practice

higher-level med/surg nursing skills in a low-risk, low-stress environment, while faculty can see
and make connections with each student. Students reported feeling more confident, more

connected with their peers and the instructor, and better prepared for the semester. Although we

no longer have the significant gap for the majority of students, the decision was made to keep the

boot-camp as a permanent component of the course due to the student feedback continuing to

report that their confidence and perception of preparedness was improved by the experience.

NUR 4243: Business of Healthcare in Complex Systems

During my first semester with the College, Dr. Perkins and Dr. Mikelaites approached me

with the opportunity to re-develop the RN to BSN Business course. As a “yes” person, I agreed

to take on the development of the course, which as a novice educator proved to present its’

challenges. With Catherine’s mentorship, I completed the re-development of the course in time

for implementation during the Spring 2020 semester. As a novice educator and with zero

experience teaching in the on-line environment and the COVID-19 Pandemic starting during this

semester, the course could have been facilitated better, however I learned a lot about what

worked and what didn’t work related to course design and my online teaching skills.

My first major changes to this course, occurred after the Summer 2020 semester. I made

the decision to re-order the modules so that the course content built on itself better and provided

a more balanced workload throughout the semester. This was in response to my perception of

how the course ran and based on feedback from students. Additional changes that have been

made to the course have been in response to the information I have learned from the Quality

Matters courses I have completed. For example, the assignment instructions for each modular

assignment have been edited for improved clarity and alignment with the grading rubric. I had

hoped to pursue having this course QM certified within the next year, however, will push this

professional goal until after the curriculum changes occurring over the next two years. As part of
the curriculum changes happening, NUR 4243 will become the business course for both

programs at the College, which will require content and assignment changes to meet the needs of

both student populations. Teaching practicum in the acute care setting holds a special place in

my heart, however I have thoroughly enjoyed and find professional fulfillment in developing and

running an online course.

Facilitation

In transparency, I would like to take this opportunity to address and discuss some

personal and professional challenges I have faced over 2020-2021 Academic year that negatively

affected my ability to facilitate an effective learning environment. My ability to manage my time,

priorities and personal obligations suffered significantly as I tried to balance work, motherhood,

and personal self-care. As a result, all three components suffered as I tried to navigate these

challenges on my own, without help from family and coworkers. This cycle led to my failing to

meet expectations in the work environment, which was clear in my course evaluations for NUR

3112P and NUR 4243 during the Fall 2020 semester. As a self-identified perfectionist, the

negative feedback was hurtful, it forced me to place down my pride, seek help and mentorship. I

met with Dr. Perkins bi-weekly, sought counseling and worked with my peers to ensure that I

could manage all the components of my life. While bumps in the road have happened since, I am

confident that I have the tools in my tool-belt to manage challenges moving forward. It has been

a humbling growth experience, which I can confidently say has made me a better person, better

coworker, and better educator.

Evaluation 

I believe that providing valuable, meaningful, and thorough feedback to students is one of

the most important parts of my job as an educator. In the online classroom environment where I
do not have face-to-face time with each student, my evaluation feedback is some of the only

direct instruction I can provide at the individual level. In the practicum setting, I believe it is one

of the best things I can do for each student, to provide real-time feedback in a respectful and

individualized fashion. Based on feedback from level coordinators, I have consistently provided

detailed feedback via grading rubrics, comments and notes to each student for each submitted

assignment. This is a strength of mine that I will continue to develop and foster, because I

believe it is a priority to be the most effective educator.

Service

  I wish I had more opportunities to provide a service to my community and the college,

however during the pandemic opportunities have not been readily available in the format we

were used to before. With that being said, I have had the honor to work with Dr. Feurer and

community hospital leaders to coordinate student participation in COVID-19 vaccination clinics

for Bon Secours Mercy Health associates. This experience was fulfilling as an individual and to

watch our BSMCON students experience first-hand what it was like to coordinate and run a

vaccination clinic during a pandemic.

As a member of the Faculty Development Committee, I had the privilege to develop and

present on Interprofessional Education as part of the Professional Development Series in March

of 2020. This presentation did offer continuing education credits for those who attended and was

a great opportunity, as a new instructor, to connect with my peers.

I joined the PI committee during the 2020-2021 Academic Year as the chair-elect, which

has been an eye-opening experience that I am grateful for. Under the leadership of Dr. Whelpley,

I have a better understanding of how leadership, committee chairs and members of the
committee monitor and manage quality and outcomes of the program. I am looking forward to

my time as Chair during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 academic years.

Practice and Professional Development

As I’ve previously mentioned in this narrative, my professional development as an

educator has been a rocky road, during unprecedented times, however I believe I have used each

of these opportunities to develop stronger skills as an educator. Through the curriculum changes

in NUR 3112P and the development of NUR 4243 I have been able to positively impact the

college and the student experience.

I continue to work at the bedside as a member of the St. Mary’s Hospital’s Float Pool,

which keeps my nursing practice current, fosters relationships in the hospital and keeps me up to

date on evidence based practice, policy and procedure changes. It is my own personal belief that

I can facilitate a better practicum experience and provide meaningful mentorship to my students

if I am current at the bedside.

Scholarship

Although Scholarship is not a requirement for promoting to Assistant Professor, I wanted

to briefly discuss my goals for scholarship. I have recently met with Dr. Mikelaites to review the

potential opportunity to submit an abstract about NUR 3112P’s Boot-Camp for poster

presentation at a conference in the coming months. While the abstract I included as part of my

portfolio is a very rough draft, it is the start of my scholarship journey. I will continue to work

with Dr. Mikelaites as well as reach out to my peers as I continue to towards presenting my work

on the Boot-Camp to the Nursing community.

I will be completing my MBA in Healthcare Administration in the coming months, after

which I plan to pursue a terminal degree. I continue to evaluate which program and school will
be the best fit for my professional goals but look forward to continuing my own educational

goals.