NURS 632 professional portfolio

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Colleen Gerrity BSN, RN,
CPHON

Candidate for MSN Nursing Education and
Faculty Role
Drexel University

+ Biography

Colleen Gerrity has worked as a staff nurse on the hematopoeitic
stem cell transplant unit for the last 8 years. The ever changing
climate of medicine, and evidence based practice in this field
were the driving forces for Colleen to find a great interest in the
importance of education.

Colleen enrolled in Drexel University’s MSN of Nursing Education
and Faculty Role where she is now in her final semester and
completing her practicum hours with a nurse educator in staff
development at Boston Children’s Hospital. Colleen also began
teaching Acute Pediatrics clinical for Northeastern University to
better explore nursing academia in the classroom. The ability
compare and contrast both arenas of nursing education has
given Colleen a more encompassing view of the importance of
nurse leaders in our professional.

+ Personal Teaching Philosophy

My personal philosophy is most closely related to the humanistic approach to education and
Students’ self actualization. I believe education is a shared experience and it is best propelled
motivation- on behalf of the learner and the educator alike. Just as students find this motivation to learn
from needs or desire to achieve personal growth, I believe we as educators are guided to this field
because of our motivation to sustain personal achievement and that is fulfilled as student’s achieve
their own.

All involved parties in the education process draw on personal experiences and ethical and moral
dimensions for success in learning. These learning experiences occur in a multitude of forums,
including the classroom, simulation labs and at the patient bedside- all of which offer plenty of
opportunity to learn if the student is engaged.While it is important to share the experience with the
learner and have equal investment- I believe it is the responsibility of the educator to design the
learning environment and to model the preferred conduct and demeanor they would like students to
emulate in order to facilitate a respectful and caring learning environment. By doing this, the educator
also realizes that they are learning from their students even while teaching. It encourages a symbiotic
relationship between the teacher and the student, and the student in turn recognizes this in their
educator and finds confidence and responsibility to his or her own growth and learning. This all leads
to a more trusting relationship between the educator and the learner- and that relationship, when faced
with more challenging experiences, gives way to cerebral development, a major component of Perry’s
model of intellectual and ethical development. I subscribe to this theory with the belief that it is our
role as nursing educators to prepare students with necessary critical thinking and nursing judgment
for the challenges and complexities they will face in healthcare.

I am a strong advocate for experiential learning because it offers a meaningful experience to every
student as they connect their feelings as well as cognitive process to the hands-on learning strategy. I
find that students who have the opportunity to apply what they have learned from a didactic or lecture
component, in a faster turn-around time, find more meaning to the material and make a greater
connection. This can be achieved through demonstration and return demonstration or through group
work and role playing. As we cannot always create the learning situation with the complexity and
uncertainty that student’s will face in the day to day- utilizing these teaching methods provides some
framework to build upon.

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+ Education

Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 2015-Present

Master of Science in Nursing Education and Faculty Role

Anticipated graduation Spring 2018

Northeastern University, Boston, MA 2010
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Summa Cum Laude

+ Professional Experience

Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA.
August 2010-Present
Staff Nurse Level I, Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Unit
Northeastern University, Boston, MA.
May 2017-Present
Clinical Instructor/Adjunct Faculty, Acute Pediatrics

+ Certifications

!  Certified Pediatric Hematology Oncology Nurse
(CPHON), ONCC 2013-Present

!  Pediatric Advanced Life Support, American Heart
Association 2012-Present

!  Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI)
2010-Present

!  Chemotherapy/Biotherapy Provider, APHON
2010-Present

!  Basic Life Support, American Heart Association
2005-Present

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+ Past Presentations and Educational
Tools

+ Course Sites

!  Central Venous Catheters in the Pediatric Population
!  Created online educational course broken down to specific modules on

designated topics relating to Central Venous Catheters
!  Assessment in each module to evaluate the learners’ knowledge and

future learning needs
Active Link:

https://www.coursesites.com/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?
tab_tab_group_id=null&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute
%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_480507_1%26url%3D
Username: cgerrity
Password: CVCpeds

+ Sample Lesson Plan:
CVC in Pediatric Population

+ Sample Lesson Plan (cont’d)

+ Sample Lesson Plan (cont’d)

+ Nursing Grand Rounds:
Boston Children’s Hospital

+ Nursing Grand Rounds:
Boston Children’s Hospital

+ NURS 613 Abstract and Poster

Creating a Culture of Evidence-Based Practice

Colleen Gerrity, BSN, RN, CPHON
Amanda Hart, BSN, RN, CEN
Suzanne Rogers, BSN, RN, CNOR
Drexel University

Abstract
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has set the goal that 90% of all health care decisions
should be evidence-based by 2020. Health care facilities have seen great effectiveness
of utilizing unit-based mentors and training programs to facilitate and assist staff in their
synthesis and application of evidence-based practice (EBP). The Clinical Nurse Scholar
Model (CNSM) is an effective model of a comprehensive educational training program
to provide unit based mentors to sustain an organizational EBP culture. MSN frontline
nurses are enrolled in the EBP Academy, which is comprised of workshops with both
didactic components and practical application to develop and hone EBP skill sets.
These nurses develop an EBP project while in the EBP Academy and synthesize a
process pathway to implementing EBP projects throughout the institution. The five-
component approach of the CNSM model include observe, analyze, synthesize, apply
and evaluate and disseminate. MSN prepared nurses who complete the EBP Academy
serve as EBP mentors and shepherd staff nurses with the utilization and dissemination of
EBP. This mentored pathway provides a stepped approach to keep the bedside nurse
motivated. The culture bolsters with confidence and motivation within the institution
and new rounds of projects and EBP Academy participants evolve.

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+ NURS 632 Capstone Teaching Plan

+ NURS 632 Capstone Teaching Plan

+ NURS 632 Capstone Teaching Plan

+ NURS 632 Capstone Teaching Plan

+ Link to Presentations

!  Please view the aforementioned presentations and others in
their entirety at the following link

https://padlet.com/ceg75/rohcoxkx2w4u

+ LinkedIn Profile

!  https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleen-gerrity-68987212