Nursing Graduating Class of 2010

Brian the Master of Ceremonies and organiser:

 

The end of semester signals many things....from a lecturers point of view it is a busy time with winding up the semester, making sure the students have handed in all their work and then there's the marking, a mountain of marking...this is where you find out if the students have applied what you have taught them...getting all the marks in for the Board of Examiners..there is a quick turn around before the next semester.... then of course there are those students who have come to the end of their course...for nursing it is a the culmination of three and half years....this group of students is a particularly special group for me... as I have seen them over several semesters throughout the last two years...which can be rewarding because you see them grow and gain more confidence and you began to feel the excitement as they are coming to the end of their course.....I don't always teach in the last semester of the nursing unit, however I have done it a couple of times now and really enjoy seeing the students go out into there 10 week clinical practice and blossom over the weeks. There are off course the trials and tribulations that go with clinical practice.... the good and the bad of the nursing professions preceptors, bullying, the usual coping with being a student and time management.

Which one of these nurses will become a "midwife"?

 

As a lecture you also have the ability to see which students are going to succeed and those that will struggle...I am proud to say we have a large number of very gifted students in the class of 2010 and I would love to see where they are in 5 years time.

 

This celebration was organised by one of the students Brian a talented man who will be a brilliant nurse...there were about 90 people...students, partners and academics.. it was really nice to see the partners there supportive and proud.... and rightly so....it was like the red carpet at the logies.... the girls were gorgeous and the guys handsome...I have to say there were some great shoes and dresses around....there was a buffet dinner again brilliant and off course desert was great.... drinking and dancing was had by all and I had a fantastic time...

 

Now at every celebration there are the traditional speeches: yes the academics as they like to hear there own voice... had something to say... Brenton whom I greatly admire (now retired) gave a heartfelt impromptu speech...and as expected it was brilliant, great words of wisdom....Lorraine wrote a poem "Ode to the new Curtin Grads"...which was excellent... Fiona...stunning wooed the audience and again thanked Brian for the enormous job he had done...and off course I had a few words to say....
The students had there own set of awards which was brilliant: "the nurse best not to upset because she has access to a variety of theatre instruments"
"The nurse most recognisable from far away"
"the nurse most likely to achieve her PhD"
"the nurse with the quietest voice and softest touch"
"the nurse most likely to hear there voice talking over the chaos in ED"
"the nurse who organised the best Xmas party"
there were a couple more that I can not remember.......

 

There are a large number of male nurses in this group...in which area will they be in 5 years?

 

For me I am passionate about teaching, I just love it.... and my message is to always trust yourself and your gut feeling...have integrity, honesty and cover yourself... that means always documenting everything despite time constraints.....you are armed with all the skills it is now time for you to fly..... fly high and be passionate about your work...when you have passion...success follows; and think about doing a postgraduate course after your graduate year.....Well done and good luck......

PhD or not? is it worth it?

Does this hat suite me? there is a lovely maroon gown that goes with it....is it worth up to 5 yrs of my life???? I was recently part of the academic procession at the university graduation.... and I was really inspired and enthusiastic about doing my PhD....as I watched others receive their awards... some of them looked so young...I took this picture to place on my vision board....in an attempt to see the end result.... but then when all is said and done... reality bites ....

The burning question in my busy lifestyle is whether or not to do my PhD? I am at candidate stage and have been for over a year...but have been too busy to pick it up... I need to now make a decision.... I initially was going to do something on nursing and midwifery documentation but have since changed my focus and would do something surrounding women's choices, birth, midwifery etc....I would also like to leave a legacy... something significant that changes practice for the best...but I am not sure if it is worth it....it will take three years full time or five years part-time...

I am now 53 and wonder the value of continuing along this road....Once I commence the journey I want to complete it...but something will have to give in order for me to do it... the subject matter is something I am passionate about but the financial reward is minuscule....My current workload does not permit me to pick up this study, there are just not enough hours in the day.... as for my private life.... we have seven grandchildren and still counting...whom I adore and love to spend time with as they are young for such a short time...this would mean less time for everyone.... then there is my husband, I am sure he would support anything I choose to do even if it was standing for the opposing political party to him......Working is a must... but I can reduce the number of hours I work....


I do enjoy studying and challenging myself.... the other option is not to do my PhD and continue doing what I am currently doing and get more involved in the college.... I am not sure how I will go with that...as I don't have a challenge.....
I follow Sarah Stewarts blog and she also had this decision to make..read her PhD Dropout... it is not an easy decision.... if you wish to remain in education.....I am no closer at making this decision... it will also mean I will have to change the way I study in order to complete the PhD which is usually evening study, it will take up some of my weekend if I am to complete it in the required time frame.....

What do you think? what is the answer?

The blogfrog..... looks good

Hi All,

thought I might try the blogfrog..to increase my readers / traffic... all you have to do is sign up: all you have to do as readers is to link your blog to mine, or sign up for TheBlogFrog. Just follow the instructions on the widget.... it is fun...

The other resource I have just discovered is Diigo.... can't believe I have not seen this before... for me who is always surfing the net and finding interesting articles and storing them on my hard drive...now I have a resource library, you can highlight, make notes.....and save them all in your library. I can build and then share with my friends and students... just brilliant..
Have fun.....

Life is very busy; too much work to get done.

My feet have not hit the ground since being home. I have been back from holidays for 12 days and now feel like it is time for another holiday….my university marking (150 papers) is almost completed, my personal study: Visual learning is way behind….and I am trying to catch up… I never realised how difficult this unit would be… One of the assignments is to look at a floor plan of a house … that someone else has chosen, so you don’t see the finished product and you have to draw the house around the plan. For me this is very difficult as I am not a visual person in that sense…. I don’t seem able to look at a floor plan and then imagine what the outside of the house is supposed to look like…. So I will have fun doing that one…. The second issue with this unit is working out the computer programs so that I can create and alter images…. So really this is not only a education unit but a computer one as well… as you are learning several skills.
Also there is the family to see..... keeping up with the kids and the grandkids, friends etc.... we managed to catch up with friends from the country which was good and I also managed to start a new clinical position one day a week, which will keep me grounded and realistic with my expecations of the students I teach and aware of changes at the coalface.

Attended “The Magic of Midwifery”… on Friday 13th it was an excellent study day….. The education team did a phenomenal job on organising this day… when you have such a successful day you have second thoughts about resigning from the committee and continuing…. On the other hand it is good to go out on a high note. For me it is time to move on and contribute in some other way to the College by doing something else and allowing fresh blood into the education team and a new stream of thinking.
There are several key components for organising these conference / educational days, initially you do need topics that will attract midwives to attend, and this can often be difficult because the needs and wants of midwives within the State are varied, you have public, private sector and independent (private practice) midwives all with different needs. Also considering the costs involved, because if it is too expensive they will not attend. Secondly it is choosing presenters that will be inspirational, because I think midwives attend these days not only for education but to be inspired and network. Work places can be stressful and the load on a midwife can be mammoth therefore it is essential from time to time to refocus and remember why you became a midwife and be motivated to be ‘with woman’ with like minded people.

The aspect I enjoy most about the Australian College of Midwives (ACM) study days, conferences etc is the networking the collegiality and they are never at the same venue. There is always the ability to network; discuss different models of care; debrief cases; and discuss different ways of approaching issues. …… You always learn something new and strike up new friendships and partnerships…. It’s just a fantastic forum of like minded people. So next time there is a conference or study day…. Go…. Experience it and utilise the experience by networking……. Share the learning experiences.

Often my husband feels I am having an affair with my computer, off course it would have to be a virtual one…… (Wonder if that happens in second life?) Just kidding! ... As I spend so much time on it….. Working…. Emailing…. Studying…. Blogging….. Writing memoirs…to think we use to use pen and paper…… how times have changed….that seems so tiresome now…..some times just browsing or surfing the net…. But I get so caught up and passionate about midwifery I can be browsing for hours on end.

After this conference my new soap box discussion topic will be memberships to Professional Colleges….. And why are they important for professional bodies…… so watch this space. Do you think they are important?

Starting another course! I must be mad or is this all part of life long learning?

The year is well and truly entrenched now and first assignments will be due very soon. I have started my graduate certificate in Tertiary Education – you might ask why? The answer is simple, I want to be the best at what I do, therefore I feel I need to extend myself and make sure I utilise all possible avenues to be a great lecturer. Teaching formally is very different from teaching in the clinical area, which is what I am use to. However I must say that it is very disappointing to know that we teach the ideal and the reality is that in the clinical area/setting they are not practicing the ideal. Why is this?
I suspect this is largely due to being overworked and under staffed.

Some questions to ponder on! Does this mean there really is a theory practice gap?? No nurses and midwives always remember to be professional when they are working to the limit? Are they tempted to cut corners because they are so busy? How do they decide which corner to cut? Are they supported by management to maintain standards under these conditions? Is the paper work completed? Do they fill out forms when they feel under pressure, when they don’t have enough staff? Or do health professionals become blasé when they are always asked to work in these conditions? What answers do you have? One thing I have learned over the years is that unless the i’s are dotted nothing gets done. In other words, if all nurses and midwives were to fill out an aims form or incident form each time they felt unsafe or there was not enough staff to cover the work to the required standard something would soon be done. Why is it we don’t?

Now back to my course, it is all on line. This is good for me, as I have a couple of units I coordinate that are all on line, so I too can experience what it feels like to be student & how important it is to have the relevant information online. This is an interesting way of learning, interacting with the computer, meeting fellow students through blackboard profiling and emailing your tutor. I do find that I have enormous amounts of reading to do. One thing for sure is that you have to be committed to your study, enjoy the course you are doing and have clear study plans and deadlines for your assessments, otherwise you are doomed to fail. We are now in a technological age where communication is so different from when I went to school; in fact the way we all communicate now is so different. The geographical boundaries are reduced, I am currently studying with people all over Australia and I have students as far as New Guinea that is really amazing – what is next?

Enjoy your life long learning!

Writing a joint article using the internet - Perth WA - Dunedin NZ

I have been wanting to publish an article about the growing trend and use of the Internet. It always astonishes me how much information is out there and how many women seek out this information or use the Internet to spread information about pregnancy, childbirth, freebirth, unattended birth, medicalised care, good & poor care received from midwives. I am also perplexed or surprised at how many midwives still do not utilise this resource or are afraid of it - 'the Internet' or cyber world as I like to call it.

It seemed a logical step to take when I asked Sarah Stewart to co-publish with me, Sarah has been a great support to me since I began blogging in January of 2008. Today I contacted Sarah via Skype to discuss the next step, which has been to create a document using google docs,(you do need to have a current google account) by which we can both write and edit our article, it is so great, I can't believe it is so easy, off course once you know how! It was so amazing to talk to Sarah after blogging for 10 months we have finally spoken. I find it unbelievable that technology takes us this far, here I am in Perth WA and Sarah is in Dunedin NZ, five hours of time between us and we spoke and saw each other as if we were face to face - it is really amazing.

My first task is to brainstorm all the things I'm interested in, as I have already mentioned some of them, Sarah did point out to me that we could write several papers and culling will be very important.
This is a familiar problem for me - too many ideas, that's where Sarah will keep me focused.

Watch this space to see how we go ..............