Realizing a dream, Crosschild embarks on nursing career

trevor.kenney — Mon, 26 May 2014 17:01:22 +0000

Chloe Crosschild (BN ’14) always knew she wanted to be a nurse. Even as a small child, Crosschild dreamed about one day becoming an RN, so when she was accepted into the Bachelor of Nursing program at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, getting started was the first step toward achieving a lifelong ambition. What Crosschild didn’t know however, was that her journey through the program would lead her career in an unexpected direction and change the way she thinks about health care.

Chloe Crosschild is one step closer to realizing her dream of becoming a nurse.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I first started, but I quickly discovered that the U of L nursing program is a learner-centred environment,” says Crosschild. “Every student is treated as an individual, and the approach is, how can we help you learn? What can we do to make sure you’re successful? The professors are not just there to teach, but to work with students one-on-one.”

Crosschild says that the student-centred philosophy of the program set the stage for the sort of care U of L nursing students learn to provide.

“It’s a very holistic point of view,” says Crosschild of the program. “It was clear from the beginning that good health care isn’t about treating a particular diagnosis, it’s about treating a whole person – their background, their beliefs, everything. We as students are treated as individuals with unique sets of needs, and we learned that it’s important to look at patients in the same light.”

As a member of the Kainai First Nation, Crosschild believes that the holistic approach to health care she developed at the U of L will help her advocate for aboriginal patients.

As a member of the Kainai First Nation, Chloe Crosschild believes that the holistic approach to health care she developed at the U of L will help her advocate for aboriginal patients.

“The number of First Nations people moving into urban centres is getting larger all the time,” she says. “It’s essential that aboriginal people feel comfortable in urban health-care facilities and receive care that respects their lifestyle and traditions. Through my education I’ve learned to be a voice for my people within the health-care system. I feel like I’ll be able to help bridge cultural divides.”

Crosschild originally planned to go into acute care, but once she was ready for her preceptorship, she was was told that all the placements in that area had been filled. Crosschild accepted a preceptorship in public health instead. As it happened, that chance placement turned out to be a perfect turn of fate.

“I absolutely fell in love with it,” Crosschild says of public health. “I get to work with patients of all ages and there is a great team atmosphere, but what I enjoy the most is the upstream approach to health care. Public health nurses address issues before they become a problem. They put prevention into action. I knew right away that I wanted to be a part of that.”

Crosschild started a public health nursing position at Lethbridge Community Health Centre in May 2014. She feels that her education in combination with her cultural heritage will serve the health-care needs of First Nations populations very well.

“Understanding aboriginal language and traditions will help me provide better care for First Nations people,” says Crosschild. “I’m very excited to put everything I’ve learned into practice.”

The Science of Mistakes

trevor.kenney — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 17:19:42 +0000

To err is human – we’ve all heard the saying, and we all know it’s true. But when human health and human lives are in the balance, mistakes aren’t always easy to understand or accept – particularly if you’re the person who’s made one.

Mark Pijl Zieber’s PhD project examined how student mistakes are managed in nursing education.

Mark Pijl Zieber (BN’93), associate professor with the nursing program in the Faculty of Health Sciences, as well as a registered nurse and who recently completed his PhD through U of A, is determined to not only discover how the fear of making mistakes impacts nursing students’ clinical performance, but also how to improve student learning both before mistakes are made and after they’ve happened.

Raised in Lethbridge, Pijl Zieber is an alumnus of both Lethbridge College and U of L. After earning a nursing diploma in 1990, Pijl Zieber worked full time as a registered nurse for one year before enrolling in the U of L Health Sciences program in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree. He later went on to UBC where he focused his Master’s thesis on the teaching and learning dynamic between clinical instructors and their students.

“I have an on-going interest in nursing education, specifically on the clinical side of things,” says Pijl Zieber. “Clinical is where nursing students really put everything together. How we prepare students in theory classes is important, but theory is much different than actual practice. We need to support students in ways that give them confidence in a clinical setting.”

Pijl Zieber’s PhD project examined how student mistakes are managed in nursing education, and presents evidence based solutions for reducing the negative effects mistakes have on student learning and experience.

“We can improve nursing education if we better manage how we deal with students who make mistakes,” says Pijl Zieber. “Of course we’d like it if mistakes never happened, but they naturally do. Some of the interventions nursing instructors advocate when mistakes happen are not evidence based. We can’t intervene based on opinion alone and expect positive outcomes.”

In between his time as a student, Pijl Zieber has taught nursing at Lethbridge College, UBC, and has had two appointments at U of L – one prior to his Master’s study, and the second beginning after his Master’s designation in 2002. Pijl Zieber says he’s happy to be back teaching where his academic career began, and is excited to take on the role of researcher.

“I love how research allows you to see things in new ways. I’m a very practical kind of researcher, and I’m looking forward to really exploring new topics,” says Pijl Zieber. “We have a great program at U of L – there’s a lot of young faculty members here, many of whom are front and centre in research and academia. It’s an innovative and exciting place not only to teach but also to learn. And I really enjoy the opportunities in Lethbridge. It’s a great place to be.”

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Realizing a dream, Crosschild embarks on nursing career

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The Science of Mistakes

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