Ways of Knowing to Empower the New Student on Campus: The Returning Vet !

Joan E. Dacher, PhD, RN, GNP

Barbara B. Pieper,PhD, RN

Excelsior College Education Day

May 1 ,2015

“This project is/was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number and title for grant amount (specify grant number, title, total award amount and percentage financed with nongovernmental sources). This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.”

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Disclosure

Disclosure

There is no conflict of interests or relevant financial interest by presenters of the

activity.

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Largest troop reintegration in history

Growing population of younger veterans

Integration into civilian workforce challenging

Large numbers of medical specialists ( medics and corpsmen) filing unemployment claims

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Background:Veterans

Opportunities in Nursing

Long terms drivers of nursing shortage: aging population, aging workforce, ACA reshaping the need for nurses.

Employment for nurses predicted to grow at a rate of 19%.

Growing nationwide emphasis on achieving a BS in nursing.

Nationwide shortage in nursing.

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Federal role: Creating opportunities for program development

HRSA Nurse Education Practice, Quality and Retention ( NEPRQR) created a new program – Veteran’s Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing ( VBSN ) Program. Currently in it’s 2nd year.

VBSN Goal: to help service members separating from the military earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing and enter well paying careers in the profession

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VBSN: Mission Transition

Excelsior College SON is one of 19 programs nationwide awarded to create a VBSN program.

Funded in July 2014 it is a 1+ million dollar grant award for 3 years.

For VBSN development in EC’s RN to BS program.

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VBSN Highlights at EC

Guided transition into higher education, including mentoring.

Nursing faculty who are veterans, successful veteran nursing alumni, serve as role models.

Dedicated academic advising by staff cross-trained to address nursing study and veteran issues.

Curriculum revision in multiple courses to support veterans as they enter higher education.

Faculty/staff development creating understanding of the unique academic and social characteristics impacting veterans’ performance in higher education.

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Who are Veterans ?

Team-bound culture of intense military life.

Moving forward toward a more self-sufficient civilian life.

Share a common experience of military culture.

But population very diverse!9

Challenges of Moving into Higher Ed.

Relative lack of structure of higher ed.

Socialization to culture of higher education: Expectations of self-sufficiency in higher education

Accustomed to orders, receiving direction, expectations.

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Challenges of Moving into Higher Ed.

Dualistic mind-set Right-Wrong epistemology Communication issues Military life is more repetitive with expected routines, higher education is less

predicable

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Challenges of On-Line Environment for Veterans

Loss of concept of rank.

Loss of signifiers of identity.

Loss of face to face creates anonymity/confusion.

Military conventions of power and hierarchy which guide communication are suspended.

Nuances of communication are lost in on-line environment.

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Challenge of Asking for Help

Accustomed to a team bound culture May be particularly difficult for women

students who have suppressed gender associated characteristics while in the military

Want to avoid the appearance of weakness

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Pro-Active Approaches to Serving the Military and Veteran Students

Good orientation to program and courses. Having specific points of contact for

students. Having Veteran specific learning community. Explaining the structure of higher education.

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Constructs that Support Veteran Success

Activities that support identity re-alignment: Multiple aspects of self: veteran, student,

civilian, H.C. professional.

Multiple dimensions to negotiate.

Active management of emerging identity. Support for finding the middle ground between

military identify and civilian identity

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Self-Authorship

Is the ability to define one’s coherent belief system and identity that supports working and engaging in the larger world

Part of identify re-alignment Transition from military to civilian identify

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Self-Authorship

Considers the questions of “How do I Know?”, “Who am I?” and “How do I want to construct relationships with others?”

Identified skill for self authorship include formation of integrated identity

independent learning

consideration of multiple perspectives

deciphering ambiguity

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Unlearning

Unlearning is a strategy for improved learning

“Learning to unlearn is, indeed, the prerequisite to all true learning…”. (Dhiman, 2002)

The degree of difficulty in unlearning will reflect the context in which you have to unlearn and the extent to which the knowledge or habits are embedded

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Transformational Learning

Learning that induces far-reaching change Associated with learning experiences that

shape the learner, have significant impact or result in a radical change in world view or lens

Requires an intentional context for education/learning that seeks to result in transformational learning

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Transformational Learning

Three common themes are experience, critical reflection and rational discourse.

Is rooted in the ways we as human beings communicate.

Can be developed and stimulated through journal writing, metaphors, life history exploration, group projects, case studies and using literature to raise critical consciousness.

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Questions ?

Contact

Dachej@sage.edu

bpieper@excelsior.edu

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