Caring through Chaos.

a photographic essay of my findings from shadowing a nursing student at UT Austin.

SC (as we will call her for privacy) is a 4th year nursing student at the University of Texas at Austin. For this project, she allowed me to shadow her and do observational research in her work space: the nursing simulation labs.

Originally from Sugarland, (near Houston) SC is a self-motivated student. Because her parents were pushed by their parents strictly towards school, SC’s parents were not as involved in SC and her brother’s academia. However, being self-motivated, she went to an elite high school with strong math and science. She always knew she wanted to have a career that would enable her to directly help others using science. Nurses have very personal contact with their patients, only having up to about 5 patients at a time. This is why SC chose to take on the rigorous journey to becoming a nurse.

my field notes, interview notes, and sense-making.

Findings

• The organization of the spaces must be continuously improving. The way the labels and maps were low fidelity, and the way the users interacted with the space showed that the place was continuously evolving.
• Flexibility is important for an efficient work space. The way the team worked without any set roles, combined with the moving organizers, carts, and shelves showed the importance of flexibility in the environment.

Nursing students at UT Austin typically have clinicals Monday & Tuesday and classes Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I shadowed SC from 2–4pm on a Friday, as she was setting up the labs with a team of 5 to prepare for the clinicals on Monday and Tuesday.

The Nursing Building

The area of the Nursing building in which SC and her team do most of their work that day consisted of 3 main spaces, as well as 2 other rooms and a storage room on the 5th floor. The 3 main spaces were…

the supply room,

the supply room. the main area for the students to manage operations.

the control room,

the control room. used to control the mannequins and record the simulations during the labs.

and the SIM Lab Bays.

the hallway for the SIM Labs.

The other 3 spaces were the assessment labs and the multipurpose room,

(L) the assessment labs. (R) the multipurpose room.

and the 5th floor storage (which they organized that day).

These 3 spaces were not used as often during the Friday shift, but are used throughout the week for classes, briefings, conferences, etc.

Nursing requires a vast sea of tools, spaces, liquids, models, mannequins, machines, etc, and the students need a quick, ergonomic way of finding every thing to set up for the clinicals. As I shadowed, the organization of what may seem like chaos was intriguing. I swam in a sea of unfamiliar labels, bottles, and boxes, while SC and her team efficiently navigated through all of the supplies they need, and set up the labs with ease. Because of this, I decided to focus on the 3 main ways of navigation that the students had: location, information, and communication.

Location.

how do you know where it is?

food from the potluck the day before + personal items.

When SC first arrives to the workplace, she heads towards the Supply Room, which is a sort of home base for the team. There, a designated desk in the corner is used to keep food, drinks, and personal items.

the main desk space.

SC and her team are at this desk space most often. This space is central to their operation as they navigate in and out of all of the spaces of the floor. From here, SC will proceed to gather supplies and necessary materials to prepare the labs. When there is not enough space, they will roll in a carts as necessary.

SC and one of her close work friends L, worked over the summer together and organized the entirety of this supply room. Furthermore, at the end of each semester, the team does a full inventory counting of the supplies. SC knows this room very well, and could explain to me every section of the room and what it contains.

The two most interesting methods of organization were the labels and the maps. Although SC and her team seemed to not need them as much, they showed the ever changing, improving organization of the space.

Labels

SC labeling saline tubes with stickers.

the main supply cart. this moves into the SIM Labs hallway.

The variety of mediums that the labels are made of show the history of change of organization within the space. The ad hoc labels show the immediate needs, while the printed sticker labels show the identified permanent organization method.

Maps

(L) the supply room map. (R) the supply cart map.

The maps, especially the general supply room map, is rarely used. SC explained that the map is used mainly by newcomers. On the other hand, the supply cart map is used a little more often, as it is more accessible and the cart is used more often.

Information/Communication

how do you know what needs to be done?

There are multiple examples of how the students manage information and communicates with each other.

Communication starts with an email on the previous day. This email entails the details of how and what needs to be prepared during the shift. There is also a schedule of shifts that is emailed out.

When information is needed to be transported, SC used her phone to do so. On multiple occasions, she would pull out her phone to take a picture of lists and other information, and bring it to another space to reference. This is most likely because information was on so many different formats, such as computers, maps, screens, permanent labels, etc, so the most convenient way was photos.

The team communicates what must be done very well. SC described that the team has “flexible roles” and each member is capable of doing every task.

An example of this communication was when two team members were confirming the numbers of the mannequins to match the control room. One team member read aloud the serial number, while the other confirmed on the manual.

the textbooks.

When someone doesn’t know what to do in a class, sometimes the teacher will say to look it up in the textbook. These textbooks are in the corner of the assessment room, but according to SC hardly anyone uses it.

the ipad.

In order to track the invested time of each student, an ipad is placed in the assessment room to sign in and sign out. This enables managers to see whether students are not investing enough effort, or they are simply not understanding.

Conclusion

Although the simulation labs and supply rooms may seem like a chaotic environment, with further insight, the efficiency of navigation of the spaces and objects becomes clear. However, a further look into the life of SC and how the job and its environments influences her daily life would be necessary to make a fuller shadowing report.