How KPU’s Nursing Program is Adjusting During the Pandemic

Kwantlen Polytechnic University has announced its plan to continue online learning for the fall semester with “limited on-campus learning opportunities, focused on those courses that require the use of labs, shops, studios, etc., and where the number of students on campus at any given time can be tightly managed.”

The nursing program requires in-person learning during labs and clinicals. Since the university switched to online learning, the program has had to make some adjustments.

Gurp Lehal, Lab Coordinator for the nursing labs, says the program has to collaborate and look at resources which could help them supplement the online learning portion of courses in order to help students to meet the requirements for graduation.

“I had a few resources that were sent to me from other institutions … like virtual games, different scenarios and situations that are similar to what the students will see while they are in the hospital,” says Lehal.

The nursing program also plans to offer theory courses online.

“They had a template on the Moodle site for online theory courses, so it really helped some of our faculty transition their summer courses to an online platform, using current up-to-date teaching techniques,” says Lehal.

Due to physical distancing requirements, the nursing program has changed how it conducts hospital visits to suit health authority guidelines, such as by going to the hospital with smaller groups of students.

“[We] take half the group in for half a day, either for the morning part and the other half for the afternoon part, depending on how the clinical rotation works,” says Lehal. “Some faculty take half the group day one, the other half day two.”

She says they’re looking into introducing “social distancing labs” as well.

“We’re still creating a plan to see how that will look,” she says. “We’ll have to have a map [to show] which way students can come in and make sure everyone keeps their two-metre distance.”

KPU’s design program is also supporting the nursing department by providing them with ear-savers to make it more comfortable to wear masks for long periods of time. Victor Martinez was one of the faculty members in the design program who worked hard to provide the nursing department with these accessories.

“It won’t be as busy as it normally is for fall,” says Lehal. “It will probably just be one or two groups coming in per day, just so we can maintain the social distancing plus maintain the cleaning.”