Nurses pioneer into portfolio project
By Tiffany Saeteurn
The student nurses graduating this spring will be the first to complete IVCC’s pioneering Nurse Portfolio Project.
The project, which has attracted national attention, requires the students to compile a portfolio demonstrating their strengths and weaknesses in each of the courses they studied. The project also pairs each entering student with an instructor who will act as a mentor.
Instructor Bonnie Beardsley, who developed the portfolio project, said, "Originally, the idea was to enhance student learning, and promote a teaching, learning environment by faculty mentoring."
Each student prepares a portfolio from assignments completed in each course. Instructor Gloria Bouxsein, who has worked with Beardsley on the project, said the role of the portfolio is to make sure the student meets the objectives of the program. She said the portfolio measures personal and academic growth.
Instructor Pam Mammano, who has also worked with Beardsley on the project, said the portfolio not only identifies how the student met the course objectives but also how they are going to improve in the next course.
IVCC is the first school to develop a portfolio project, Beardsley said, a fact that has generated interest in the portfolios. Both the National League of Nursing and the National Organization for Associate Degree Nurses asked Beardsley to present the portfolio project at their national conferences this fall.
Her abstract on the portfolio, which she presented at the National League of Nursing convention, is on their web page at www.nln.org
How well the portfolios will work for nurses about to graduate is difficult to judge at this time. Beardsley said a few students have used their portfolios in job interviews and they have reported positive responses from employers.
The idea for the project came from research Beardsley conducted in a Master’s program at Lewis University.
"I thought it might be the answer to several issues we wanted to address within the nursing program," Beardsley said.
Beardsley developed a proposal and submitted the idea to Director of Nursing Bonnie Grusk who approved the project to begin on a pilot status in the fall of 1997. This spring, after the first students in the pilot graduate, the project will be evaluated.
"The (nursing) faculty as a group will determine whether they want to further commit to this project…or if there may be some changes made," Beardsley said.
"There is a large commitment on the faculty for time. The instructors devote many hours to open conference and problem solving above their regular class time."
Based on research at the end of the first year of the pilot, Beardsley expects positive results.
"As faculty, I believe the mentoring has helped to create some strong bonds and demonstrates that the philosophy we have at IVCC and within the nursing program is what we truly believe for our students."
1/28/99 the Apache