Nursing Module 3: Knowledge and Clinical Judgement 

This module really reiterated the fact that nurses need to have extensive knowledge when they are in practice, and knowledge about a variety of topics as well. When it comes to nursing, it is not just knowing diseases and their symptoms. It is also knowing how to communicate effectively, knowing legal and ethical practices, pharmacology, mathematic calculations, nutrition, IT knowledge, and much more. In order to learn all of this information, nurses must first know how to be an effective learner to absorb all this new knowledge. This module helped exemplify the different types of learning styles and how to implement their tips for each learning style. It also discussed the importance in developing critical thinking skills when it comes to being in practice and in the clinical setting. That is a huge part when it comes to nursing and I was able to really start thinking and reflecting on my own personal critical thinking skills and how I can improve them for my future clinical settings. I also learned tips and strategies for integrating all the extensive knowledge we learn in nursing school and how to tie it all together and incorporate it into the clinical setting. 

Nursing Module 4: Priority Setting Frameworks

As a nurse, you deal with a variety of patients each with differing levels of acuity, pain, and needs. Because of this, it is important for a nurse to understand how to prioritize patients and how and when the nurse will address each need. This includes a variety of prioritizing strategies such as Maslow’s Hierarchy, the Nursing Process, ABCs, safety, restrictions and survival potential. These frameworks allow the nurse to accurately assess the priority of each patient and decide most to least critical and the order in which the nurse will treat each patient. It is important for a nurse to recognize and be effective in using these frameworks in order to treat each patient with individualized and effective care. Also, it is important to be able to recognize priorities amongst patient situations because if you have a patient who is suffering from dyspnea and is becoming cyanotic, versus a patient with a slight stomach ache, it is important to realize the life threatening consequences of not treating the cyanotic patient first. From this module, I really learned what it takes to be able to think and perform like a nurse.