Guest column: Education foundation helps next generation of nurses
By Susan OlcottGuest column
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Even before the pandemic, teachers have been using virtual techniques in creative ways to help their students to learn new skills. Not everything can be taught first-hand and that can be particularly challenging given the limitations of classroom spaces and schedules. But, Joanne McMahon has come up with a simple virtual solution for her students at the Region 10 Technical High School to learn one of the skills they need to earn their Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) degree.
Students training for a CNA degree have to learn how to support the medical staff that they work with by doing a variety of tasks. One of the most basic services a CNA can provide is to take measurements of a patient’s vital signs. Sometimes this is simple, like taking someone’s temperature, but other times it is more complex. Blood pressure is one of those more complex measurements. There’s systolic and diastolic and getting the pressure just right. The way to learn how to do it correctly is through repeated practice.