Authors

  1. Morse, Brenna L. PhD, RN, NCSN, CNE

Article Content

Nurse faculty may face challenges when teaching students about answering questions patients have or beliefs they hold about health and illness, especially when referencing content they saw online. "On the Blog" is an assignment that may help students build skills in addressing patient concerns. First, small groups of students conduct a web search for an assigned health topic and identify a blog detailing a personal experience with the condition. Students develop 5 questions a patient newly diagnosed with the condition may have after reading the blog. Student groups then swap questions and blog links. The receiving group reviews the blog and formulates sample answers to the questions. Finally, student groups share a summary of the blog, patient questions, and sample responses with the class. This activity allows students to think critically about the impact different conditions have on patients and learn how to respond to patients who may have misconceptions. Faculty may help students frame responses in a way that encourages the patient to be curious and have a voice in their own care, while also sharing the latest evidence and information on the differences between how the condition is managed at the local facility and the blogger's experience. Most importantly, the activity facilitates discussion of validating patient experiences. Although personal accounts on blogs, as well as patients' own histories of illness, may not always align with the textbook-defined presentation of a condition, this does not make the experiences false.