“Capriotti has more of a nursing focus. Pathophysiology has always been a struggle for our students. We needed a book at a level they could understand, and one that they would be inclined to actually open and read.” Caity McArthur Lead Faculty Level II
Watts College of Nursing Durham, North Carolina
Caity McArthur is the Lead Faculty for Level II Nursing at Watts College of Nursing. Watts offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and utilizes a concept-based curriculum. The program covers 17 concepts using a lifespan approach in both years of study. The first year focuses on basic health assessment and nursing management of uncomplicated health problems and the second year concentrates on nursing management of acute, chronic, and life-threatening health problems and the transition to nursing practice. As Lead Faculty for Level II, Caity coordinates a team of faculty who teach Nursing Concepts II (8 theory and 3 clinical credit hours); Nursing Pathophysiology and Pharmacology II (2 theory credit hours); and Nursing Research II (2 theory credit hours). In her role, Caity makes decisions about instructional methods, methods of evaluation, and how courses are organized. The challenge: Finding the time to effectively cover pathophysiology in a combined course Caity teaches the combined pathophysiology and pharmacology course during the second semester of the BSN program. Time is tight; the course meets weekly for just 2 hours. Although students have done much of their pathophysiology readings in Level I, they still need to review the concepts that impact the pharmacology they are learning about during the Level II course. The solution: Using Davis Advantage modules as a ticket to class The program adopted the Capriotti book because they were looking for a change. “The previous book went too deep and covered too much. Capriotti has more of a nursing focus. Pathophysiology has always been a struggle for our students. We needed a book at a level they could understand, and one that they would be inclined to actually open and read.” The Davis Advantage online resources also played a role in their adoption decision. “We had Davis Advantage resources available with our book, Davis Advantage for Maternal-Child Nursing , by Scannell & Ruggiero, and I was really impressed with them. I wanted to use them in a structured way for our pathophysiology/pharmacology course because we have a lot of material to cover in a short amount of time. ” As a result, Caity created a strategy using Davis Advantage for Pathophysiology for pre-class assignments, so students come to lecture prepared. Students are required to complete the Davis Advantage modules prior to class. “This is their ticket to class.” says Caity. “The modules give them a review of the relevant pathophysiology so we can dive right into the pharmacology lecture during the class. If I had to lecture on all of the pharmacology and also go through a review of the pathophysiology, we wouldn’t be able to cover it in 2 hours.” The “ticket to class” concept works because Caity is able to leverage the Davis Advantage analytics to track her students’ work. “I love that I can go in and see that they not only completed the module, but which elements of the module they completed, and how much time they spent.” In order for the students to get full credit, they have to spend a specified amount of time working on the module. “I know they aren’t just breezing through the work and answering questions haphazardly.” The Davis Advantage assignments and in-class activities based on the assignments are worth about 40% of their grade. “This definitely encourages students to complete the pre-work and attend the class.”
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