This
3-credit web-based elective, offered through the University
of Iowa's Center for Credit Programs, attracts undergraduate
students, doctoral students, RN-BSN students, and practicing
nurses. Because registration at the university is not
a requirement for taking the course, RN-BSN students
from all over the state are coming on board. To date,
it has been offered three times, most recently as an
interdisciplinary option, and has included students
from schools of pharmacy, aging studies, religion, dentistry
and social work. Efforts to cross-list the course with
the medical school are currently in process.
The
students are initially queried about their levels of
education and clinical experiences, and then are divided
into 5 equally sized diverse groups. This way, representation
is ensured from all levels and disciplines.
This
course uses content from the Toolkit for Nursing Education
in End-of-Life (TNEEL) CD (link below), developed by
faculty at the University of Washington through a project
funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Course
content is presented in 6 units (Impact, Connections,
Ethics, Comfort, Well being, Grief), each of which contains
3-6 modules. Each module includes the following 7 sections:
Module Overview, Student Objectives, Myths, Content,
Post-Assessment, Resources, and Definitions. Student
assignments include: reflective journals, discussion
group case studies, on-line discussion forums, group
leader online discussion summaries, learning activities,
and final papers.
This
course joins 5 other recent additions to the nursing
school's web based options. The school sponsored a virtual
education faculty retreat (link below) last spring,
which offered faculty support, information and tools
for web-based development. The end-of-life content of
this course lends itself to a web format, by allowing
for maximal self-reflection of its sensitive material.
Dr. Herr reports that although a tremendous amount of
professional growth takes place for the students enrolled
in this course, significant personal growth occurs as
well. Student evaluations remain tremendously positive.
