Career Blade Nursing-Taking-Care-of-Patients

NURSING: TAKING CARE OF PATIENTS

LESSON PLAN OVERVIEW

Career: Nurses assess patient health problems and needs, develop and implement care plans and maintain medical records. They also monitor patients’ vital signs, administer medications, advise on health maintenance and disease prevention. Nursing careers include: Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN), Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVN), and Registered Nurses (RN).

This lesson plan highlights some of the items that nurses use in their careers and some of the questions and things they need to review as they are seeing patients.

Grade Level: Elementary Grades

Learning Objectives:

〉 Students will explore the nursing career and how nurses care for patients.

〉 Students will create a n urse’s kit to explore the tools nurses use to provide basic care to patients.

〉 Students will role-play being a nurse by examining patients and completing a patient information form.

〉 Students will gain a basic insight into the nursing profession, including common job tasks and tools nurses use to perform those tasks.

Materials Needed:

Activity #1: Creating a Nurse’s Kit

〉 Student worksheet

〉 Crayons, colored pencils, or markers

〉 Scissors, glue, tape

〉 Construction paper

〉 Optional miscellaneous medical supplies –cotton balls, popsicle sticks (tongue depressor), Band-Aids, gauze, etc.

Activity #2: Examining Patients

〉 Wall height chart (You can have students make a height chart as a group activity or use a yard stick or tape measure.)

〉 Eye chart

〉 Weight scale (teacher discretion)

〉 Stethoscope (If you can provide one, even a toy, pass it around for students to use.)

TEACHER GUIDE

Lesson Instructions: This lesson plan will help you demonstrate to students common skills and procedures used in the nursing profession. Begin the lesson by reading the Class Message below to your students, then have them watch the recommended Video Introduction. Afterwards, facilitate discussion with the Class Questions listed.

After the discussion, students will work on the included activities. Each activity has a printable worksheet with student instructions and areas to record their work. Provide guidance to students on how to use their worksheets before beginning each activity.

You should also familiarize yourself with the student worksheets to help demonstrate any procedures and help facilitate the ending activity discussion.

Class Message: Today we are going to explore the nursing career. We will learn about some of the things nurses do to take care of their patients

A nurse provides care for people who may be sick, in the hospital, or who just go to the doctor’s office for a check-up. Nurses gather information on patients by taking their temperature, their pulse rate, or listening to their heartbeat. This helps the nurse to find out if the patient might be sick. Nurses write this information on the patient’s chart to share with the doctor.

Let’s watch this video to learn more about what nurses do.

(http://tn-caps.com/r/K2VNR)

Nurses Career Video

Class Discussion Questions:

〉 Think about your last visit to a doctor’s office. Did you see a nurse?

〉 What did the nurse do for you? Did the nurse take your temperature or pulse? What else did the nurse do?

〉 Were there other people in the doctor’s office besides the nurse that did something for you?

〉 Did the nurse write down information about you on a chart?

Activities Overview: This lesson plan includes two student activities. Activity #1 will help students recognize and understand the tools a nurse uses to perform basic medical care by creating a nursing kit. Activity #2 enables students to better understand the duties of a nurse by examining patients and completing a patient information form.

Read and familiarize yourself with the student worksheet for each activity.

Activity #1: Creating a Nurse’s Kit

This activity enables students to individually create their own nurse’s kit and learn the different tools a nurse uses when providing basic patient care.

Activity Instructions:

〉 Handout the student worksheet.

〉 Review the worksheet and read the activity Introduction and Description to the students.

〉 Facilitate the activity, helping students construct a nurse’s kit where they will color, cutout and paste the tools included in the worksheet onto a construction paper nurse’s kit.

〉 When finished, facilitate the discussion questions for this activity.

Activity Results: Students should have constructed a nurse’s kit that, when unfolded, shows common nurse’s tools.

Activity #2: Examining Patients

Activity Instructions:

This activity enables students to better understand the duties of a nurse by examining patients and completing a patient information form.

〉 Handout the student worksheet.

〉 Have students wash their hands using the handwashing process described in the worksheet.

〉 Read the activity Introduction and Description sections to the students.

〉 Assign students into groups or pairs.

〉 Review the worksheet with students and help students understand the items on the patient information form.

〉 Help students take the vital measurements and record them on the form.

〉 After completion, facilitate the discussion questions for this activity.

Activity Results: Students will use the patient information form to examine the patient and select the results of the examination. Each student will take a turn playing the nurse and playing the patient

CAREER INSIGHT

Career Highlight: This lesson plan highlights some of the skills a nurse uses on a daily basis to care for patients. See the Employers in My Area section to contact businesses and organizations in your area about classroom demonstrations, on-site visits, or other additional career exposure opportunities.

Featured Career:

LPN/LVN and Registered Nurse (RN)

Career Descriptions: LPN/LVN and Registered Nurses (RNs) provide and coordinate patient care, educate patients and the public about various health conditions, and provide advice and emotional support to patients and their family members.

Nurses typically do the following:

〉 Assess patients’ conditions

〉 Record patients’ medical histories and symptoms

〉 Observe patients and record the observations

〉 Administer patients’ medicines and treatments

〉 Set up plans for patients’ care or contribute information to existing plans

〉 Consult and collaborate with doctors and other healthcare professionals

〉 Operate and monitor medical equipment

〉 Help perform diagnostic tests and analyze the results

〉 Teach patients and their families how to manage illnesses or injuries

〉 Explain what to do at home after treatment

Most Nurses work as part of a team with physicians and other healthcare specialists. Some Registered nurses oversee Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) and Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVN), nursing assistants, and home health aides.

Other Names for this Career: Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), Licensed Vocational Nurse, Registered Nurse (RN), Emergency Department RN, Staff Nurse, Oncology RN, Staff RN, Director of Nursing (DON), School Nurse, Clinic Nurse, Public Health Nurse (PHN), Charge Nurse, Operating Room RN

STANDARDS ALIGNMENT

Activity #1: Creating a Nurse’s Kit

Coloring, Cutting, Matching

English Language Arts

〉 With guidance and support, express thoughts, feelings, and ideas through speaking.

〉 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when speaking

〉 With prompting and support, speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation

〉 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when speaking

〉 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when speaking

〉 Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification

Science and Engineering Practices

Engaging in argument from evidence to identify strengths and weaknesses in a line of reasoning, to identify best explanations, to resolve problems, and to identify best solutions.

Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information from scientific texts in order to derive meaning, evaluate validity, and integrate information.

Activity #2: Examining Patients

Science and Engineering Practices

Developing and using models to develop explanations for phenomena, to go beyond the observable and make predictions or to test designs.

Planning and carrying out controlled investigations to collect data that is used to test existing theories and explanations, revise and develop new theories and explanations, or assess the effectiveness, efficiency, and durability of designs under various conditions.

Analyzing and interpreting data with appropriate data presentation (graph, table, statistics, etc.), identifying sources of error and the degree of certainty. Data analysis is used to derive meaning or evaluate solutions

〉 Engineering Design 1) Solve scientific problems by asking testable questions, making short-term and long-term observations, and gathering information.

〉 Links Among Engineering, Technology, Science, and Society 1) Use appropriate tools to make observations, record data, and refine design ideas.

EDUCATOR RUBRIC

ITEM

Does Not Meet Expectations Meets Expectations Exceeds Expectations

Cutting Inconsistent cutting. Cuts on both sides of the line. Cuts well on simple shapes but struggles with more advanced shapes.

Coloring

Some marks colored outside the lines, some white space visible, choice of color does not always make sense.

Team Work Student did not work well in their pair.

Cuts accurately on the line with advanced shapes. Does not always rotate paper while cutting.

Colors in the lines, leaves no white spaces. Uses multiple colors.

Cuts accurately, on the line, with advanced shapes. Rotates the paper as they cut.

Group Discussion Did not participate in the group discussion.

Student worked will in their pair and contributed equally.

Colors in the lines, leaves no white spaces, uses multiple colors that make sense.

Student worked well in their pair, contributed equally and exhibited leadership.

Participated in the group discussion making some connections to the career of nurse.

Participated in the group discussion and made many connections to real world experience and the profession of nursing.

ACTIVITY #1: CREATING A NURSE’S KIT

Introduction: Today, we are going to create a nurse’s kit and learn about the things a nurse uses each day. A nurse’s kit is like a toolbox that has the tools nurses use.

Activity Description: The sheet below shows some of the tools nurses use to take care of patients.

Activity Procedure:

〉 Color and then cut out the items from the worksheet

〉 Paste the tools onto the construction paper.

〉 Cut out the handles and paste them to the construction paper, one on each end.

〉 After all of the items are pasted, fold the paper in half so the tools are inside

〉 Cut out the medical symbol and paste it onto the outside of the nurse’s Kit.

Activity Discussion:

〉 Which tools in the nurse’s kit have you seen used before?

〉 How do nurses use these tools to help people?

〉 Where do nurses usually work?

〉 Do you think it would be fun to use tools like these to help patients?

ACTIVITY #2: EXAMINING PATIENTS

Introduction: Have you ever thought about the kinds of jobs that help people? Today we are going to pretend to be someone in a job that helps people feel better when they’re sick or injured. We’re going to pretend to be nurses.

In this exercise, you will be a nurse helping find out what’s wrong with a patient. You’ll collect important information and record it on a patient chart. This information helps us understand how the patient is doing and why they might be sick.

Activity Description: Students will practice measuring and recording a patient’s vital signs.

Activity Procedure:

〉 Hand out the student worksheets.

〉 Color and cutout the medical equipment on the handouts.

〉 Wash hands using the following handwashing procedure: Wet hands with WARM water.

Soap and scrub both sides of hands for 20 seconds (sing the Alphabet Song while washing).

Rinse and dry hands using a clean towel.

〉 In pairs, each student will take turns as the nurse and patient.

〉 The nurses will measure the patients’ height and weight and list those on the form.

〉 The nurses will use the medical equipment to pretend to check their patients’ vital signs and circle either the thumbs up or thumbs down symbols for the Wellness Checks.

Activity Discussion:

〉 Which part of playing a nurse did you like best?

〉 Which part of playing a nurse did you not like?

〉 Why is it important for a nurse to check these things?

〉 What types of things might you do if you became a nurse when you grow up?