This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a pediatric conference. I have been speaking on the issues that I have been having with students in the clinical setting, but this time I would like to discuss a situation with a seasoned nurse. I went to this conference of course to gain insightful knowledge, but I also wanted to observe different teaching styles. One speaker stood out to me. Her presentation was on the empowerment of nurses. At the beginning of her presentation, she made it known that she had to catch a flight as soon as she was finished. She talked so fast throughout her presentation, and I could not tell if she was rushing because she had to leave for another engagement.
During this presentation on empowering nurses, the speaker made several references to her abusive father, abused mother, and alcoholic brother-in-law. She also made a comment that charge nurses are simply "adult babysitter" and that she would never function in that role. All of this was done in a room full of nurses! She even used two curse words! Needless to say, there were a lot of offended people in the audience, and she never really talked about how nurses could empower themselves! This speaker was an advanced practice nurse and author who has been in this profession for over 30 years.
I have learned that different teaching styles and techniques work differently for different people and situations. The most important thing is to keep your audience in mind because you want to be sure that someone walks away with having learned something new. It is very important to meet the needs of your audience.
6 comments:
Kim,
Did you ask for you money back?? Sounds like she is suffering from serious burn out and has many personal issues. Every profession has bad apples and the event sponsors probaly only knew her by professional reputation.
When ever I invite unknown (to me) speakers to my workshops, I hold my breath for the first 10 minutes. You never know what you get. I had asked a super dooper Neuro nurse to lecture on and demonstrate a neuro exam. That was such a disater I wondered where she got her great reputation from.
What an empowerment? Somebody needs to understand her and help her. Might be under stress?
Unbelievable and how very sad.
Along with Gabriella's experiences and you post, I'm sure the hosting organization was probably applauded about what happened.
It's so sad to think that organizations who are trying to provide a significant service such as CEUs, have to worry so much about the speakers that they've invited and paid to help them. The speaker has definitely "dented" the reputation of the sponsoring organization regardless of the organization's previous reputation.
I second the motion, did you ask for a refund, this really unwelcomed behavior. Your are right sometimes you don't know what you will get, this makes me so sad.
Wow - that's awful. I've had similar experiences, but wouldn't have expected it at a nursing conference.
That's a bummer to have to waste your precious time on. I am one to try and see what I have learned from every situation. I think sometimes people are so "all talk" that you don't realize that they don't really know what they are talking about. Then there are those that are great with their "work", but have absolutely no people skills or communication skills. She's the one who needs some positive empowerment to change her situation so maybe she won't hold so much anger and resentment.
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