Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Web-based Learning

 At present, it is not uncommon for Nursing Schools to offer web-based classes and programs to meet the needs of students wherever they live to have access to basic and advanced degrees (Billings, 2000).
However, my opinion was that this may only  be attractive to those students who are computer literate. There was worry and hesitation on my part when I enrolled in the classes required for my program this semester. This is because I considered myself far from being computer proficient. What surprised me though, as classes started, how supportive my teachers are, including the university's technical support and library staff. My success this semester is going to be up to me and my motivation to learn new things, not just how to be an effective teacher but also how to become a facilitator of learning through web-based programs.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

I WIll Survive...

I am feeling somewhat overwhelmed with all the new things I have to learn not just on the technology side of things but everything else. I am hopeful it will ease up a bit.Does it? I am taking a full-time load and this is my first semester in the MSN program.
 I am working very part-time at a home health agency mainly training newly-hired RNs on Medicare OASIS C documentation and creating POCs. I will also be doing monthly clinical staff inservice. I will survive...

Monday, August 23, 2010

Get To Know Me-Entry for Module 1

Hi Dr Sue and Dr Kathy and to all my fellow classmates.
My name is Emmie (short for Emelinda) Comer, in the Teaching Nursing Specialty program at the U. I finally have the courage to go back to school after being gone for 20 years. I graduated with my BSN at the University of Cebu in the Philippines in 1990. Married that same year and immigrated to the US in 1991. Hershey, Pennsylvania was my first home away from home. FYI, you never crave for chocolate in Hershey because you smell it in the air. In 1995 we moved to Utah due to my husband's teaching job at BYU. I have 2 boys (17 and 10). Most of my nursing career has been with the geriatric population (in SNF and Home Health) except for the 2 years I spent as a company nurse for Nestle USA.
I have a love/hate relationship with technology. My first exposure to computers was only a few short years ago. About 6 years prior,  the home health agency I worked for started having us use Palm Pilot for our daily visit charting and Misys (now Allscript) program for OASIS patient data collection. Last year we went paperless at the office and all patient data are stored in Allscript, HHGold and a couple of other programs. I think this class is going to finally convince me that there is no turning back and in order for me to succeed in school as a student and as a future faculty, I better learn all that there is to learn to survive in this day and age.
I hope to be a much learned woman at the end of this semester.