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From the desk of Adrianne E. Avillion, DEd, RN

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, January 14, 2011

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Editor's note: This feature is written by nursing staff development expert Adrianne E. Avillion, DEd, RN. Each week, Adrianne writes about an important issue in the area of staff development or answers reader questions. If you have a question for Adrianne, e-mail her at adrianne1@comcast.net.

Using bulletin boards as a continuing education strategy

Historically, bulletin boards are one of the oldest methods of sharing information and offering educational opportunities. In this day and age, bulletin boards can be traditional, such as a device that is hung in an accessible location, or virtual and accessed via computer. Whichever format you choose, bulletin boards can be a good way of providing quick, easily accessible teaching/learning activities.

The case study approach is a good way to make the most of a bulletin board presentation. You can use an all text format or enhance your case study with illustrations and other visuals. Here is an example of a way simple text can be used to enhance learning on a bulletin board:

Objectives:

• Identify specific risk factors for breast cancer recurrence
• Describe initiatives for reducing risk for breast cancer recurrence

(Note that it is important to clearly state the objectives of the learning activity.)

Patient histories:

• Mrs. Mane is a 55-year-old breast cancer survivor of 10 years. She is a vegetarian, does not drink alcohol, and has an office job that requires she spend most of her time sitting at a desk. She does not participate in a regular exercise program.
• Ms. Burns is a 68-year-old breast cancer survivor of about five years. She drinks about one glass of wine per day, does not smoke, and exercises for 45 minutes five days per week.
• Ms. Jacobs is a 40-year-old breast cancer survivor of two years. She exercises almost every day for more than 30 minutes. She neither smokes nor drinks. She is taking an SSRI antidepressant and Tamoxifen.

Each of these women is doing something that increases her risk for breast cancer recurrence. Do you know what they are doing to increase their risk? Check out these journal articles and websites and stay tuned for the answer to this question next week!

At this point in the learning activity, you could post websites or specific journal article titles that learners could locate to read more about the issue. Then, the following week, or within a time frame that works for you, you could post the answer to your question about factors that increase risk for recurrence.

By not providing the answers immediately, you are giving learners a chance to do some thinking and investigating on their own. However, if you want to, you can always provide the answers as well as additional resources that they could consult to further investigate the learning topic.

The preceding information was adapted from Avillion, A.E., et al. (2010). Innovation in Nursing Staff Development: Teaching Strategies to Enhance Learner Outcomes. Danvers, MA: HCPro.

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