Ron Ulberg and Kent Blad
January 19, 2016
Evaluation of how well the academic objectives of the proposal were met:
The academic objectives of the MEG proposal were met and exceeded. Specifically, students were exposed to local and national venues in which Veterans and their history are prevalent. Examples of this include visits by the students and faculty to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, VA Medical Center War Related Injury and Illness Study Center, Arlington National Cemetery, US Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, WW I Memorial, WW II Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Museum of American History, etc. We also met with Senator Mike Lee from the State of Utah to discuss issues pertaining to our Veterans.
Students were provided the opportunity to be mentored in this clinical experience by myself and Kent Blad, both Veterans of Operation Desert Storm and practicing nurses at the VA Medical Center in Salt Lake City. Students were exposed to the above sites in Washington DC, in addition to meeting with several panels of Veterans in rural Utah towns.
Students completed assignments in assessing the Veteran population as a whole, a teaching activity, a reflective writing assignment on their experiences, a presentation on a Veteran of the student’s choice, a report on a Veteran monument/memorial, and the academic deliverables discussed below. Through these experiences, the importance of learning unique characteristics and principles in understanding the diversity of the Veteran population and caring for them was instilled in the students. The group took part in interviews, clinical experiences, historic Veteran site visits, and a service project involving the Veteran population.
Several students were involved in professional conferences and presentations about their experiences in this course.
Evaluation of the mentoring environment:
The mentoring environment during the entire term was a positive one. Mr. Blad and I were in direct supervision of all students at all times during spring 2014. Students gained a new-found appreciation for this population who have sacrificed so much for their country. Students had a strong desire to learn, especially when gaining more information about this population. The environment was very conducive to questions, learning, and positive constructive interaction. Students expressed much joy and satisfaction for their time spent with the Veteran population.
List of students who participated and what academic deliverables they have produced:
In this clinical experience, 15 students participated in creating and producing academic products for four specific course in the nursing program. These scholarly products were teaching modules about veterans that were presented to faculty. In consultation with faculty from the related courses, students prepared modules that included PPT or PREZI presentations, discussion topics, and questions suitable to be included in a course content.
Through this experience the students had hands on experience of peers teaching peers, interacting with other faculty, and preparation of material suitable to be used in a college lectures.
Case Study: Pediatrics; Rachel Dimick, Kayli Wood, Camille Tranter, Jenna Bowles
Veterans and Chronic Diseases: Christie Cerenzie, Mariah Payne
Psychological Issues and Veterans: Lauren Fitt
Communication with Veterans: Arielle Haban
Gerontology Veteran Curriculum: Jenna Bowles, Jordan Cook, Averi Gremlich, & Ragen Porter
PREZI Core information: John Rossi, Ryan Strobehn, Angela Kaczorowski
Description of the results/findings of the project:
Many results of this project are easy to describe, many are not. Students did an outstanding job preparing material for lectures, interacting with other faculty in the college, and teaching one another throughout the course. Over the past 2 semesters all of the teaching modules have been used in various course, there have been additional modifications and tweaks done by faculty. Faculty have been pleased with the effort and professionalism exhibited by the students preparing these modules and other faculty have requested modules specific to their course from future classes.
A summary account of how funds were used:
The following is the combined account for 15 students from Spring Term, 2014. This budget reflects the MEG award of Ron Ulberg and Kent Blad ($20,000). Since the experiences were accomplished together, Mr. Blad and I shared expenses for all students and faculty as co-directors of this course. Our total budget came in a little over the allotted combined $20,000, which the Dean of the College of Nursing covered with College funds. Having researched and received price quotes on the stated items in advance, we came in very close to our proposed budgets. All items are for 15 students:
| 1. Airfare SLC to Washington D.C. | $8,200 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2. Housing in Washington D.C. | $7,025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3. Subway transportation | $975 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5. Per Diem for Washington D.C. | $2,300 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6. Uniforms | $1,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7. In-state travel | $500 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $20,000 |
We express our appreciation for the opportunity granted our students by the efforts and funding of the MEG office. Their lives will be forever changed due to this experience. Thank you.
Ron Ulberg
Associate Professor
College of Nursing