An Interactive Skills Fair to Prepare Undergraduate Nursing Students for Clinical Experience

With increased enrollments in undergraduate nursing programs, classroom space to accommodate larger groups of students is required. Dividing students into small groups leads to a need for more faculty as well as laboratory and classroom space. Traditionally, our senior-level course faculty conducted on-campus labs for four days (our clinical days) during the first two weeks of the semester to prepare students for their chronic illness clinical experiences. Some of that time was used for orientation lectures, with smaller groups of 14 to 15 students rotating through lab experiences where faculty discussed objectives and demonstrated equipment. In some sessions, videos were shown and IV and math problems were reviewed, but there was little time for the practice of skills. As class sizes grew, even doubled, classroom space became too small or difficult to obtain. We recognized that our on-campus labs would have to change. Determined to preserve our active learning philosophy, we understood the importance of having students as active participants in their own learning (Ohman, 2010). Our goal was to eliminate some small-group sessions and decrease the need for classroom space while engaging students actively in their own learning. Our overall goal was for students to better retain content and the ability to perform essential skills (Scheckel, 2009). After all, the retention of content and skills is vital for our practice profession. We have since made a number of changes to our teaching strategies. One approach was to increase the use of online assignments. For example, students take computerized IV and math tests until they receive a perfect score. Students are also instructed to prepare for on-campus labs by viewing videos online and completing worksheets that accompany required readings. Lab time can then be used for the practice of procedures: suctioning a tracheotomy, completing tracheotomy care, and changing the central line dressing. Small groups of 12 students attend demonstrations of these skills, then practice them with coaching and feedback. Teaching assistants test students on their proficiency after they have the opportunity for further practice. THE INTERACTIVE SKILLS FAIR One of our most effective innovations is the interactive skills fair. Our goal in creating the fair was to use different teaching strategies to reinforce content that students would be learning in preparation for the clinical experience. The content would not be a repeat of what students were doing in the lab. The class, 144 students, is divided into three equal groups, with each group of 48 attending the fair for two hours on a single day; there is a break of 30 minutes between sessions. All course faculty are involved in creating the displays, setting them up, and manning display tables on the day of the fair. A large room is set up with a circle of tables for displays at one end. Students gather at the other end where chairs are arranged classroom style. Thirty minutes are used for instructions, pretest, posttest, and evaluation. Students are further divided into small groups, preferably with students who will be in their clinical group to foster relationship building. Each small group moves through the stations as a signal goes off indicating it is time to move to the next display. Faculty have created a variety of display stations using interactive methods to engage students. Examples include: * Practice cupping and clapping chest percussion on a fellow student * Fluid and electrolyte molecule movements and sorting IV solutions into isotonic, hypotonic, and hypertonic * Handling a variety of tracheotomy tubes and other airway equipment, matching these to descriptions of their use * A Jeopardy-type game for psychotropic medications * Putting steps in order for how to use an incentive spirometer * Role playing using a screening tool for addictions * Applying a nasal oxygen cannula on a manikin; pulse oximetry testing * Drawing up and administering insulin based on blood glucose test results and sliding scale orders Our First Fair The first year, the fair was well received by students. …