Navigating Simplicity in Design - take charge of your classroom
Every time I begin teaching a class, I make this statement to the nurses in the room:
“I made a choice a while ago to not be at the bedside, because I have decided to focus on teaching. And because I’m not taking care of patients anymore, you are an extension of my practice - so I’m going to show you the right way to do this.”
This statement has become the embodiment of who I am, at my core, as a nurse and as an educator. And because I believe so fervently in this statement, I have to ensure the things I’m teaching in the classroom are evidence-based, corroborated by subject matter experts, and are constantly validated by independent data and quality metrics. There is a high threshold for integrity at my job, and I want to continue to provide excellent training and education for the nurses I teach and train - therefore, I believe in sound instructional design and curriculum development that I have the ability to control, iterate, and validate with evidence.
In the landscape of nursing education, the temptation to expedite the complex process of curriculum development is ever-present. The market is filled with pre-made solutions promising ease and efficiency. However, it's imperative to acknowledge the profound responsibility we hold as educators. Our role extends beyond imparting knowledge—it involves shaping the future of patient care and upholding the standards of our profession. And because we have to hold such a high standard of education, we should be in control of the development of our own curriculum and not fall victim to the fodder of quick fixes.
Creating your own lesson plans, resources, or other content can be exceptionally difficult. But if you have a simplified framework to begin your work, it can be easier to create and validate. That’s why I developed the Clinical Reasoning Framework
The Clinical Reasoning Framework: A Guiding Compass
The Clinical Reasoning Framework (CRF) serves as a guiding compass for educators, providing a structured yet adaptable approach to curriculum development. It's a method that simplifies without diluting the essence of a robust nursing education. By adopting the CRF, you can confidently create content that reflects the nuanced realities of healthcare.
Elements of the clinical reasoning framework
The whole purpose of this framework is to provide a simplified method of creating learning content for clinical practice that is easy to remember and evidence based.
This strategy encompasses five separate elements (which I call the 5 C’s).
Concept
Context
Critical Thinking
Clinical Applicarion
Conclusions
Let’s explore how these all look and what’s involved.
Concept
The 'Concept' phase is all about setting the stage for learning by choosing a main topic. It's crucial because it makes sure learners know what they're studying and why it matters, which is especially important for adult learners. At this point, the goal is to get learners to remember and understand the basics, preparing them for what's next.
Context
Next, the 'Context' phase is where learners start using what they've learned in real situations. This makes the learning feel relevant and useful, which keeps adult learners interested. Here, learners practice applying their knowledge and start to think about how it fits into different real-life situations.
Critical Thinking
During the 'Critical Thinking' stage, learners are encouraged to really think deeply about what they're learning. This means analyzing the information and questioning it, which helps them understand the topic on a deeper level. This phase is about taking charge of one's own learning and making sense of the material in a way that's meaningful.
Clinical Application
The 'Clinical Application' stage is about putting theory into practice, especially in a healthcare setting. This is where learners show that they can use what they've learned in actual clinical situations. It's a key part of learning for adults because it shows how the knowledge works in the real world.
Conclusions
Finally, the 'Conclusion' phase is a time to look back and think about what has been learned. It's a chance for learners to see how far they've come and to think about where they can go next. It ties together the importance of self-reflection in learning, allowing learners to evaluate what they've done and to think creatively about how they can use their new skills and knowledge in the future.
The beauty of this framework is in its simplicity. Teaching is a complex and often overwhelming process, but we shouldn’t take shortcuts offered by others outside our space.
The Inevitability
I’ll be the first to admit that there are some amazing, viral influences in the interweb that do an amazing job at providing supplemental resources. Nurse Mike is a perfect example. In his YouTube videos, he takes popular songs and remixes them to deliver simplified explanations or diagnoses or treatment (these align with concepts of Knowles and neuroplasticity in terms of memory retention). I even remember using his videos myself to find very specific information that was easily digestible myself.
The inevitability lies in that it is nearly impossible to explain everything perfectly to every nurse or nursing student and have them precisely remember everything. But what we can do is embrace methods like Mike’s in ways we can’t connect and then control the narrative in the classroom because we are ultimately responsible for the information we share to our students - because at the end of the day, our teaching is an extension of our own practice.
Stay tuned for more posts about the CRF and how to use this process to create engaging content for your students.
