Practicum Location and Preceptor Background

My practicum time will be spent at SUNY Ulster, in Stone Ridge New York. I will be working
with forth semester ADN students who are about to graduate. My preceptor is Linda Loomis,
who is full time faculty at SUNY Ulster, and works per diem in the Emergency Department at
Vassar Brothers Medical Center. This semester Linda is teaching lecture Monday and Friday at
Ulster, and does clinical rotations on Tuesday and Thursday at Vassar Brothers Medical Center.
Linda has been an RN for 29 years, obtained her ADN at SUNY Ulster in 1988, and obtained her
MSN at SUNY New Paltz in 2011. Linda has had a variety of different nursing experiences
ranging from med/surg, critical care, management, and teaching. As well as participating in
practicum at SUNY Ulster, I will also be involved in the VLDD class which I am highly
anticipating.
Broad Practicum Outcomes & Planned Activities
Two broad practicum outcomes I have for NUR 605 practicum are to assess SUNY Ulsters ADN
program, and prepare, create, and participate in the emergency preparedness interdisciplinary
simulation that will be held on April 17, 2017.
There are many different activities that I will have the opportunity to participate in during my
practicum at SUNY Ulster. In relation to the two broad outcomes I have listed, I will attend an
ACEN accreditation committee meeting, attend a staff meeting, assess student learning. These
activities will enable me to reach my outcomes of assessing SUNY Ulsters ADN program.
SUNY Ulster is going through their re-accreditation process through ACEN. They are looking
at, and revamping all of their standards in accordance with the ACEN guidelines. This will be an
interesting process as I have never experienced this before. SUNY Ulster is participating in an
emergency preparedness simulation that I will be helping to plan as well as participate in. There
will be meetings that I will attend to enable me to participate in the simulation and understand
what is going on, and the external departments that we will be involved in. I am thoroughly
looking forward to this.
Personal Barriers to Overcome
Two main barriers I hope to overcome this session is my fear of public speaking, and my
continuous self-doubt. Ive had many conversations with my preceptor about public speaking
and how I get really nervous. I am hoping by lecturing this session I will feel a little more
comfortable with the process. I also have an issue with doubting myself. This comes when
students ask questions about the content. I am always afraid that I will give them the incorrect
information or look like a fool if I cannot come up with the answer. This is something that with
practice I hope I will be able to overcome. My preceptor has given me some good ideas and
feedback on these barriers and I am hopeful that I indeed will overcome these barriers sooner
rather than later.
Practicum Experience to Enhance Professional Goals
I would really love to have an opportunity to teach in the online learning environment. I am
looking forward to completing the VLDD certification course so that professional goal, may
someday become a reality. I am very interested in making learning interactive for students, and I
am so glad that all of this technology is available to enable me to help students learn for life and
not just to pass a test. I am looking forward to lecturing, as this is inevitable if I would ever like
to become full time faculty. All in all, I am highly anticipating this final chapter of my journey
here at SUNY Delhi. The feeling sure is bitter sweet.
~Jenn