Program Overview

Program Overview

The Medical Surgical Nursing program is a second-year subject that builds on knowledge acquired in the first year and other clinical subjects. It exposes students to clinical case scenarios where they analyze and apply problem-solving skills to common medical-surgical problems.

Program Structure

• The program consists of seven to eight 50-minute lectures spread over an 11-week period.
• Weekly lab classes allow students to practically apply their skills and knowledge through simulations.
• Students also participate in four weeks of practical activities in hospital wards.

Experiential Learning Activity

Description

In this activity, students experience the pathway of an electric wave through the chambers of the heart. All students are invited to sit in a specific area and are divided into four sections, representing the four chambers of the heart. Volunteer students participate by wearing headsets that identify them as specific nodes, and the whole class enacts an impulse as a Mexican wave to see the electric wave going across and down.

Role Play in Lectures

Description

Volunteer students learn how to beat cardiac rhythms in drum sets, mimicking sounds from the atrium and ventricles. The lecturer projects images of different rhythm strips, and each image is discussed separately with the whole class. The volunteer students play the beats in the drums, and the whole class is invited to analyze what they see and hear.

Why the Program is Successful

Multimodal Ways of Learning

Both activities use a mixed-mode approach to teaching and learning, combining images, sound, and body motion, in addition to the lecturer's facilitation of a discussion. This combination of elements is fun and helps students think about what they are learning in different ways.

Fun, Humor, and Stories

The lecturer believes it is essential to share jokes and stories with students to break the rhythm of lectures and bring students along in the flow of the class. These moments help students remember and make sense of what they're learning.

Faculty and Enrollment

• Faculty: Health
• Number of students enrolled (Autumn session): 450

Program Details

• The cohort is usually split in half, with some students attending classes in the Autumn session and the other half in Spring, with each group having 300-400 students enrolled.
• Before the semester starts, the lecturer sends an email to students asking for four volunteers from the current students' cohort to help with class activities involving creative role-plays. In return for their participation, the lecturer offers her notes to the volunteer students.