Community Teaching Plan: Teaching Experience Paper
Gayatri Gajaria
NRS 427V
Grand Canyon University
December 22, 2014

Community Teaching Plan: Teaching Experience Paper

For this assignment, I chose my community in city of Montclair, CA. The teaching was done at Montclair Christian Church. The target audience for this teaching plan was parents of infants, pregnant women, and the topic I addressed was Fall Prevention. Falls occurs most frequently in infants when they are trying to explore their environment and can lead to head injury and many fatalities. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Falls are the leading cause of non-fatal injuries for all children ages 0 to 19. Every day, approximately 8,000 children are treated in U.S. emergency rooms for fall-related injuries. This adds up to almost 2.8 million children each year” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,2012). Falls can be prevented and many fatalities can be avoided. This is the epidemiological rationale for choosing this topic. Infant falls can be traumatizing for the parents and the infants. There are many ways parents can protect their infants from falling. Most of the time, majority of the falls occur at home. They result from infants falling from bed, sofa, chairs, stairs; changing tables etc. When infants fall they can get injured easily. “Minor head trauma is frequent among infants and leads to numerous visits to emergency departments for neurological assessment to evaluate the value of cerebral CT scan with the risk for traumatic brain injuries (TBI)” (Pediatr,2013).Parents and caregivers can play a major role in preventing falls and protecting their babies. For the teaching plan, I used pamphlets, graphs and resources from CDC website. The nursing diagnosis is Readiness for learning. Learning involves the cognitive domain, affective and psychomotor domain. It is very important to assess the motivation to learn of the targeted audience. Besides willingness to learn, it is also very important to assess the age group of audience, educational level, support system, reading and writing ability, cognitive level and developmental level. Any physical limitations like hearing, visual, coordination etc should also be considered. Factors that indicate readiness to learn are culture, emotional aspects, support system etc. Other factors are financial status, social status, family structure. Language barrier is also important to assess before beginning the teaching plan. The learning theory I used is social learning theory by Bandura. Learning can occur through direct observation or instruction provided in a social setting. My target audience was parents of infants. I used pamphlets and listed resources from reliable websites like Centers for Disease Control, Florida Health Department etc. I used simple terms that my audience could understand avoided medical jargon. Many factors have been associated with infant safety. These include socioeconomic status, race, educational level, income, access to healthcare and medical insurance. According to Healthy People 2020, “Improving the well-being of mothers, infants, and children is an important public health goal for the United States. Their well-being determines the health of the next generation and can help predict future public health challenges for families, communities, and the health care system” (Healthy People 2020,2014). Some of the HP2020 goals related to the topic are:MICH 1.3 – Reduce the rate of all infant deaths (within 1 year).MICH 3.1 – Reduce the rate of deaths among children aged 1 to 4 years. (Healthy People 2020,2014). The HP2020 objective relates to Alma Ata’s Health for All Global Initiatives goals of: Maternal and child care, education about health problems and the means to prevent or control them. (Maurer&Smith,2009,p.115). Both the goals focus on infant safety and preventing injuries in infants and children. Some of the objectives for this discussion were to evaluate the understanding of audience regarding the discussion topic, engage the audience and encourage questions, opinions and feedback from the audience, educate the audience regarding safety measures and assessment and implementation strategies related to falls and injury. Pictures of objects usually found in the household that pose as major risk factors for falls were used to educate the audience. Audience members were then asked to identify some of the objects shown. Infant supervision was emphasized and audience was educated about safety measures in the household. Audience was divided into groups and was asked questions regarding the topic. The group that answered most questions was given a prize. This strategy aroused interest in the audience and kept them engaged in the discussion topic. A doll was also used for demonstration and audience was asked to demonstrate safety measures and actions to take after fall or head injury. To evaluate the teaching provided, members were also asked to state some safety measures that they will implement in the house. A quiz was given at the end of the teaching plan to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching. This Audience was also given the opportunity to ask questions regarding the topic and provide any feedback, opinions or concerns they had. The need to supervise the child at all times and having a safety kit in the house was strongly emphasized. Audience was also given information regarding resources that provide information related to child safety and fall prevention. Information related to nearest community resources was also provided. Some of the potential barriers during teaching were language barriers, educational background, age group of audience, cognitive level, and age group. An interpreter was used for members who did not speak or understand English. Some of the members in the audience were young, teenage mothers. Some members in the audience only completed high school and some had degree in majors not related to science. Simple layman terms were used for this discussion so the audience members would be able to understand the topic without any difficulty. Some members were young teenage mothers. In order to gain their attention and maintain their interest, emphasis was placed on infant safety and these members were encouraged to ask for help with assistance with the care of the infant. Questions were encouraged from the audience and were answered promptly. To begin the presentation, I introduced myself and my professional role. I used pamphlet, graphs and statistics from reliable websites. To end the discussion, I encouraged audience to ask questions and share any concerns, feedback or opinions they had. Discussion also ended by emphasizing on the key points related to the topic and evaluating understanding of the topic by giving a quiz to the audience. Questionnaire related to the evaluation of this discussion was provided to the audience and members were asked to turn their responses in an envelope. This approach helps in giving the opportunity to the audience to be honest in their responses and encourage them to share their concerns and opinions without feeling scared or pressured. According to the questionnaire survey, the areas of strength for this discussion were the time of this presentation, simple and easy to understand and follow vocabulary, encouraging discussion and feedback from audience, materials provided, easy to understand pamphlet. Areas of improvement were the pace of discussion. Some members felt that the instruction and discussion was rushed. Seating was uncomfortable and room lighting was not adequate. A room with good lighting and comfortable seating arrangement was recommended. This topic was chosen because falls are the leading cause of fatalities and major cause of emergency room visits in the United States. With proper supervision and safety measures, falls can be prevented. Hopefully this topic brings more awareness about the seriousness of the situation and help families and infants from incidents that cause trauma and fatalities.

Reference
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Falls: The Reality. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/SafeChild/Falls/.
Healthy People 2020. (2014). Maternal, Infant and Child Safety. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/maternal-infant-and-child-health.