Strategy Submission

First year nursing students are assigned a patient in the preoperative period and are expected to follow this patient until they have arrived to the postoperative unit.  The following day students provide postoperative care to this same patient.  Students are instructed to review the criteria for the paper so they are familiar with what they are observing for.  Students then write a professional paper addressing all the required components explicitly laid out in the assignment instructions.  Students are encouraged to seek information from staff and clarification from faculty when needed.

This assignment addresses each of the six QSEN competencies.  The competency of patient centered care is met by students remaining with the patient throughout their surgical experience enabling them to understand the healthcare situation “through patient eyes” and when they evaluate communication they observe.  The competency of teamwork and collaboration is addressed when students describe the roles of healthcare team members.  By reviewing an article and identifying whether actual practice matched evidence based practice students meet the competency of evidence-based practice.  Quality improvement is met when students discuss the value of their and others’ contribution to patient care experience in the care setting.  The competencies of safety and informatics are addressed when students discuss the system used for medication administration.  Students must also discuss the use of the electronic health record in the preoperative period.  In all this assignment allows students to see the patient’s perspective while also being introduced to the systems perspective of hospital care.