Ted and I just returned from the OACC conference in Muskoka at the Marriott Hotel on Lake Rosseau.  What a beautiful location, and excellent staff to host this event.

I had the wonderful opportunity to get feedback and share ideas on teaching the NACC PSW  Module 14 on Caring for the Dying Person and their Family.

Some of the comments included: “love the text, ppts, study guide and videos… great teaching tools”, “the role play demonstrated to me, and to the students, what they CAN DO!”, “The PSW is honoured in the text”, “It is about time, students need this information”, “students said, this is my favorite module”.

We also heard the concerns about lack of time to teach all the content, and the challenge for students to reflect on issues that they have not worked with yet,…

After talking with instructors and directors of education, we came up with some ideas that might help you in dealing with these challenges.

• “Reflective writing is difficult for students who have not experienced death.”  Suggestions:
  • Encourage students to read the questions, and think about their life experience.  This might include the care they provided for an animal, could be a death in the family, or could be something they hear or see on the TV.  However, if there are some questions they cannot answer due to lack of experience they may save this until well into their practicum.  Their answers can be limited to a few words or contain lengthier paragraphs, they can respond in English or in another (native) language. There are no wrong answers.
  • When revisiting the reflective writing during practicum (students might want to use a different colour pen to respond this time). Reflections may deepen when students experience people dying, or witness people experiencing different symptoms or suffering.  At the end of the practicum, have students review the Baggage and Beliefs section again, and discuss what they have learned since starting the practicum.Were these ideas helpful?
• Kath