Will Blog for Food

I didn't attend MANA this past weekend. I wanted to. I was scheduled to speak. But it was a nonpaying gig and I couldn't afford the airfare to upstate Michigan. I really wanted to go, but ironically I gave the same presentation (slighty tweeked) here in my town at another conference. After I notified MANA that I wouldn't be speaking, I got an invitation from another conference that had before rejected my application. They had a slot open up and asked if I wanted it. It was right here in town, so I jumped at the chance. I spoke on Sunday morning at the Professional Nursing Education conference. I spoke on using blogs for teaching nursing students. (I slightly tweeked it from the MANA presentation on the impact of blogs on healthcare). I ran into several nurses I knew, including one of my professors from nursing school. I even picked up a few tips on improving hospital clinical experiences. It was very nice. Yes it is ironic that I spoke at a conference for nursing educators when I've only been doing it for 5 minutes. Even more ironic is the fact that when I sent in my original request for proposal- I wasn't teaching at all- and had never thought about teaching. As much as I wanted to go to MANA, I never had time to miss it. My weekend was a blur of posting midterm grades, checking care plans, and writing powerpoints, and shopping for baby dolls to be used for neonatal assessments and infant baths. Later this week, the hordes will descend on 'kid's day' as my students do head to toe examinations on real children (mostly homeschoolers- they're available during the day, and there are usually 5-8 kids in every family- so I don't have to ask as many people!). As for the two classes I'm taking towards my masters, I turned in my first draft of my research literature review. My research topic is, the impact of lactation on infant mortality in the African-American community (the news is all bleak, folks). For my health assessment class, last week we practiced vaginal exams on teaching patients. (Teaching patients are folks who get paid to let you examine them, and they instruct you as you go.) I think I did terrible- you'd think I'd know my way around a vagina after all those years in L&D! It's an interesting contrast being both the student and the teacher simultaneously. I came across an article on being compassionate to nursing students and that nurse educators can be abusive instead of nuturing. I took it as a warning- to check my motives, and attitude when dealing with my students- and everyone who comes into my sphere of being.