Debbie R. Faulk

Lights, camera, action: using feature films to stimulate emancipatory learning in the RN to BSN student.

Nurse educators are continually challenged to develop and implement effective activities to stimulate reflective learning in the RN to BSN student.The authors discuss the successful use of the feature film My Life as a reflective learning activity for a family health systems course.While feature films have been used constructively to teach family systems and social development, there is scant literature on the use of feature film as a teaching strategy within the discipline of nursing.The authors present evidence of how a film promoted stimulating and powerful transformative learning.

Assessing Codependency and Family Pathology in Nursing Students

&NA; Codependency is believed to develop in dysfunctional family systems and manifest itself in compulsive behaviors that make life painful and work emotionally difficult. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationships between self-reported family pathology and scores on the Codependency Assessment Inventory (CAI) and to determine the prevalence of family pathology and codependency in a sample of nursing students. A descriptive correlational study of a sample of 35 southeastern and southwestern associate and baccalaureate nursing programs was used. Nursing students completed the CAI and a demographic questionnaire adapted from previous research. This study found relationships between family pathology and codependency traits. In this sample, codependency was identified as a severe problem for only a small number of the nursing students. The typical student earned a score on the CAI in the average range. While general information about codependency would be beneficial for almost all nursing students, significant interventions involving individual counseling may be best reserved for those most affected. Research efforts to determine if codependency is a disorder separate from other behavior pathologies would be especially beneficial.

Broadening the Knowledge of the LPN Long-Term Care Provider: A Pilot Study

There are little data regarding Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) roles in long-term care settings and how the roles might be expanded or changed to meet the unique needs of the elderly. The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study was to determine if an increase in knowledge occurred in LPN care providers after implementation of a 32-hour education program. The program was delivered in 8 self-contained learning modules to a convenience sample of 15 LPNs working in 2 rural long-term care settings. There were significant statistical differences in pre- and post-test scores for 3 of the learning modules. Written comments on an evaluation survey of participants indicated knowledge had been broadened. An open-ended questionnaire completed by the 2 directors of nursing 6 weeks postcompletion of the program indicated improvement in the participants basic leadership and management skills.

The perspective transformation journey: using a metaphor to stimulate student engagement and self-reflection.

V arious learning styles and other unique student attributes contribute to difficulty in developing learning activities that help students make sense of abstract and complex concepts in nursing education. Studies show that metaphors help students understand and experience complex concepts and guide learner self-reflection, attitude formation, and behavior change. Metaphors can be used to link the purpose of activities within a course and guide thinking about the learning process as a whole. Nursing educators can create metaphors in planning learning activities and curricula to enable student and faculty visualization of processes and outcomes.