Stephen F. Austin State University senior nursing student Savana Eaton and assistant professor Dr. Angela Jones are equipping nursing students across the nation with a pocket reference card to assist them during patient interactions.
Focusing on patient health history, the card condenses essential information into cues for various assessment questions and was published online by Quality Safety Education for Nurses, a national organization dedicated to improving patient care. While Eaton created the original reference, Jones worked closely with her, expanding it to cover all aspects of the assessment history nurses perform and aligning it with the organization’s competencies.
“The idea was to give them something that was a bit of a comfort but also met the patient’s needs,” Jones said. “It helps to promote communications between the students and the instructor as well as the assigned nurses.”
Now, the card is given to every nursing student the first day of class and is required for clinical rotations.
“It’s given me a lot of confidence,” Eaton said. “It helps me going into a patient’s room knowing I have everything I need.”
Although the department has had material published by the organization before, this marks the first time a faculty and student collaboration has been published, a significant accomplishment for the School of Nursing, said Tamara Harris, director of the school.
“Nurse educators from all nursing program types across the U.S. use the evidence-based teaching strategies published on the website,” Harris said.
To view the pocket card, visit qsen.org/admission-health-history-assessment-pocket-card.
By Joanna Armstrong, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.
