ABSTRACT
Using web-based discussion as a teaching strategy: bioethics as an exemplar Nurses are required to be competent in the area of bioethics based on several accreditation standards. Bioethics courses are one strategy to develop such a competency. Bioethics education itself has various goals including the need to engage in discussion and the ability to debate diverse issues. Providing an educational experience that meets both disciplinary and topic needs can be challenging. On-line conferencing through WebBoard 3.0, a web-based discussion software program, within a graduate level bioethics course successfully contributed to meeting these needs. A technical description of the WebBoard is provided in the following discussion along with a description of the integration of this device into a bioethics course. The WebBoard conferencing allowed all students to enter the class discussion and especially facilitated discussion for reticent speakers and distance learners. Evaluations of the bioethics course from both the faculty and students' perspectives were generally positive. Most students found the technique easy to use and liked the asynchronous format that allowed them to read and contribute at any hour of the day or night. Despite the labour intensive nature of this experience, the strategy ensured participation by every student, a major goal of the project. Developing an interdisciplinary situation would increase the value of such an experience.
Subject(s)
Computer-Assisted Instruction/methods , Education, Nursing, Graduate/organization & administration , Ethics, Nursing , Internet/organization & administration , Online Systems/organization & administration , Teaching/organization & administration , Attitude of Health Personnel , Communication , Humans , Interprofessional Relations , Nursing Education Research , Program Evaluation , Software , Students, Nursing/psychologyABSTRACT
This study compared mothers', fathers', nurses', and physicians' perceptions of parents' reactions to stressful stimuli when their children were hospitalized. Thirty-six mothers, 14 fathers, 27 nurses, and 23 physicians rated 36 stressful stimuli on an inventory the investigators developed. Analysis of Variance and subsequent multiple comparison tests disclosed numerous differences between parents and health care professionals and between mothers and fathers on the Parental Uncertainty, Annoyance, Child Discomfort, and Negative Emotional States Scales. Further analyses of ratings on individual items from the scales revealed the bases of the differences. Implications for health professionals and directions for further research are discussed.