WELCOME

My name is Laura Nash, I am a pediatric registered nurse, mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend, colleague and mentor. My hobbies include, equestrian activities, hobby farming, running, snowboarding, weightlifting, gardening, hiking and spending as much time outdoors as I can. My nursing career has taken me to multiple hospital sites with a focus heavily on pediatric care, more recently I have spent time in clinical education opportunities for fellow colleagues and nursing students. I have enjoyed and completed the Educator Pathway levels 1-3. I am eager to expand my knowledge as I apply for a masters of nursing with a focus in education.

Intention:

Throughout my time as a registered nurse (since 2008), I have taken a strong interest in education, for myself and others. I enjoy both teaching and learning, making a commitment to myself to be a life long learner. Nursing requires one to be curious and open to new ideas, research is ongoing and clinical practice is formed by evidence based practice. Adapting to changes in clinical practice is a requirement for all medical professionals. And although change is hard, health care wouldn’t be where it is today without research and practice change as human medical knowledge increases and new technology advances care.

Starting with my time at BC Children’s Hospital I have received feedback from colleagues and students that I am a compassionate mentor. Forming excellent rapport with others, I am able to provide a calm and confident presence, where learners feel comfortable asking questions, and expressing concerns. Leaning into my love of learning, I really enjoy finding the answers to questions I do not know the answers to, digging deep into policy and procedure, clinical skills, and other scientific based resources to provide evidence for the answers I strive to provide. My time spent as Clinical Nurse Educator for ARH and CGH pediatrics has allowed me to gain experience in clinical education, I was able to provide education to my colleagues in a meaningful way, meeting them where they were at and expanding on their current knowledge to meet clinical expectations for pediatric nurses within Fraser Health. I was able to influence change on the MICY program level by contributing to the new ways of knowing documentation to replace the old CAPE tool used for nurses to self reflect on their pediatric knowledge and experience. I was part of the foundation of the regional pediatric orientation, and although I am no longer in the interim CNE position my influence is still present today.

More recently I found myself teaching clinical to the students in semester 5 at UFV. This allowed me an opportunity to continue teaching, although the context is a bit different than teaching nurses employed by FHA, the experience was valuable and the students enjoyed their time spent with me. They were very comfortable asking me clinical and nursing related questions, reinforcing my ability to form trusting relationships with learners. I was able to help tease out critical thinking and encourage deeper learning by asking questions, suggesting where they could find more answers, and providing some context and ideas from my own pediatric nursing experience. At the end of the rotation I would spend one on one time with each student to reflect on their learning and during this opportunity I would ask them for feedback on my teaching, it was overwhelmingly positive, but also had constructive feedback, for example in the first group of students it was suggested that I ask them more questions and test more of their knowledge. I was able to apply that feedback to the next groups of students. It was also noted that I would be too helpful with medication preparation, they suggested to allow the students to make more mistakes and help less.

Education spans throughout my nursing to the bedside where I provide patient teaching to children and their families on various health topics. I take time to connect with the people I serve, and provide education in a multitude of ways. For example; I verbally explain the material, provide written material with highlights to the most valuable information, I provide resources for clients on where to find more information, and I show them any skill, then have them repeat the skill with me present in the room, this process allows me to evaluate my teaching. I then leave lots of time for questions from the learners, and restate any further need for questions/clarification before the family is discharged home. I also provide the card to the unit so that if the family has any problems at home they may contact the nurse on shift and have any questions or concerns answered in a timely manner.