As part of the class, they would use cases from the hospital to apply the leadership skills they were learning. The idea proved so useful to the students learning, Barham began referencing the hospital and its patients in her sophomore laboratory classes. Last fall, the pair took the idea one step further and created the cyber Monarch General, an interactive Web site that is quickly expanding throughout the nursing program. On the site, which is accessible only to students in the nursing program, the entire hospital is laid out from its floor plan and employee directory, to its mission statement and unit descriptions. Students who click on the link for the hospital s ambulatory clinic can see a picture of the student nurse manager and read her short unit description and greeting.
Students also meet their patients and can download their medical charts.
In the spring semester, each student in the nursing leadership class draws a position in the hospital and functions in that position for the entire semester, Marshall explained. The nursing students write the mission statement and goals of the hospital and each unit as part of their leadership course or critical thinking laboratory. The Web site offers students a context to work from and a realistic application of problem-solving, leadership skills building and critical thinking, Barham noted. When we ask them questions about patients and hospital issues, it s abstract. But with Monarch General, we try to make it real.