โฑ๏ธ Welcome back to the third part of this series, "The Summer of Tiny Experiments."
Wait ... I missed what we were doing here with a "tiny experiment.โ
No problem! A tiny experiment is:
- an action you can take in the name of self-investigation
- takes into account your cognitive, emotional, and physical resources
You can read the previous weeks of the series here:
Week 1 - Setting up a Tiny Experimentโ
Week 2 - Managing your Internal Resourcesโ
Great, Iโm caught up! What is the topic for this week?
For this article, I want to explore a few tools available to us in our unpredictable work environment. Although there are rhythms to the semester and repetition in the coursework we teach, nursing education is inherently unpredictable. Heading into a clinical day, you never know what type of patients will be there. Starting a new theory course, you have no idea what the student cohort will be like. You likely have little control over school-wide initiatives or the implementation of new technology or software.
100% I feel that. But what are some tools or techniques that I can use to manage this uncertainty in our work?
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๐ง Combine your tiny experiment with a metacognition practice
Last week, we explored introspective tools that helped bring awareness to our internal landscape. Metacognition involves this awareness paired with analysis.
In our current culture, we often say that we donโt have time to think. Let alone think about thinking. There are organic ways to allow your brain to do this:
- ๐ถ Long walks
- ๐ชก Sewing/needlework/any repetitive task with your hands
- ๐ฑ Tending to a garden
Itโs the kind of โmindlessโ work that allows us the space and reflection to engage in internal discourse, explore problems from various angles, and consider how our experiences will unfold in the future.
Anne-Laure Le Cunff, in her book โTiny Experiments,โ describes a simple weekly reflection tool called โPlus Minus Next.โ This tool is flexible and can be adapted to your unique circumstances, allowing you to capture your accomplishments, challenges, and next actions in a way that works best for you. Just create three columns on a sheet of paper and fill them in. You could also use a tool like Notion (seen below) to gather your reflections.
โ Plus: These can come from any aspect of your life, including work, hobbies, and relationships. The achievement can be big or small. It can include what you were grateful for during the week or a consistent habit that you maintained throughout the week.
โ Minus: Acknowledge the mistakes you made, biases you noticed, or decisions you wish were different. Perhaps it is an area of life that you've neglected or a routine that has fallen off schedule.
โญ๏ธ Next: Use your insights to direct your actions for the next week. This could involve requesting additional resources, acquiring a new skill, or allocating time for healthy habits. Consider constructive ways to work through the notes in the Minus column.
Not everything on this list needs to be fixed, and you donโt need to find a solution for everything. Acknowledging them is often enough.
Alright, I can do that! What else can I do with all this uncertainty?
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๐ถโ๐ซ๏ธ Avoid Labeling Events as โGoodโ or โBadโ
Nursing is not binary - there are grey areas, inbetweens, maybes, and inconsistencies. As nurses first, we are often comfortable with the ambiguity and nuance in clinical practice. But something happens when we become educators and our thinking shifts to โpass vs fail,โ leaving us with uncomfortable inbetweens.
One provider I worked with in the ER had an approach to acute illness that many people found unsettling. If a patient came in and they did not have any glaring infection or life-threatening condition, he would discharge them with these instructions:
โโThey will either get better or they will get worse - they wonโt stay the same for long. If they get worse, come back and see us.โ
Or this story of the Chinese farmer:
๐ Once upon a time, there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, โWe are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.โ The farmer said, โMaybe.โ
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๐๐๐๐๐๐ The next day, the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening, everybody came back and said, โOh, isnโt that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!โ The farmer again said, โMaybe.โ
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๐ค The following day, his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, โOh dear, thatโs too bad,โ and the farmer responded, โMaybe.โ
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๐ช The next day, the military officers came around to draft people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again, all the neighbors came around and said, โIsnโt that great!โ Again, he said, โMaybe.โ
We will have seasons of significant progress and others where we feel immeasurable struggle. We instinctively frame these seasons as โgoodโ or โbadโ to help us make sense of things. But if we can sit in the โmaybeโ for a while, without judgment of ourselves or the circumstance, there is great imaginative possibility in โletโs see what happens next".
So, where do I go from here with my tiny experiment?
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๐ชง We are at a crossroads, and there are different paths available.
โฉ Persist: You are enjoying your tiny experiment and want to continue. You want to continue with your current momentum and set up the steps to prolong your experiment and gather more data.
โธ๏ธ Pause: Deciding to quit your experiment or put it on hold based on a negative experience. It could be draining your energy, affecting other aspects of your life, or you feel the juice is not worth the squeeze.
๐ Pivot: You recognize that the tiny experiment could use some adjustments. This could involve increasing or decreasing the scope, setting a different goal, or modifying the tools you are using. The experiment will continue with a slight course correction.
So, where will your tiny experiment go from here? I would love to hear which path you choose - just email me at martha@breakoutRN.com.
Just know in your heart that there is no โrightโ choice. It is impossible to fail when you view everything as an experiment, allowing you to gain insight into yourself or the world around you. All I know is, Iโm excited to see what happens next!
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I can't believe that this is the final episode of Season 1! Thank you for following along. This podcast was certainly an experiment, and I am choosing the ๐ Pivot path from above. I have some minor adjustments in mind, ideas to enhance the flow, and a way to restructure all the amazing active learning tools.
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07: Cultural Competence in Nursing Education
Discover how to incorporate cultural competence as an active learning tool.
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