by Dani G. Ortega, CON
The College of Nursing concluded on Saturday morning its three-part webinar series on building strong relationships among faculty, staff, students, and parents.
The webinar series wrapped up with Series 3: Navigating Parenting Challenges in the New Normal that was conducted over Zoom and that was live-streamed on Facebook.
College Research and Extension Coordinator, Dr. Mae-Lanie O. Poblete said that the webinar series was created to give participants a breather from the pandemic blues and provide a way for them to learn how to navigate the challenges of the New Normal.
Dr. Poblete explained that the webinar series was also a way for the CON to get feedback from students and their parents so that the college can act on their concerns.
The guest speakers for Series 3 were Dr. Chanell Carcallas-Concepcion, the coordinator of the Program for Leadership Excellence in Nursing (PoLEN) of Silliman University, and Noriko Aizawa, a lecturer from the School of Nursing of Japan’s Dokkyo Medical University.
Concepcion, who spoke on Developing a Growth Mindset, emphasized the continuous process of examining challenges, as well as one’s thinking, views, and mental outlook. She said that one might not be able to change one’s situation, but one can change the way one thinks and how one looks at a situation.
Aizawa talked about mental health issues and depression and what Japanese Mothers faced during the pandemic.
She presented data that showed a rise in suicide cases in Japan, and pointed out that more people have died from suicide in Japan last month than from Covid-19, and that women have been impacted the most.
Aizawa stated that self-care, social care/network “should be encouraged for mothers/parents and that one should avoid becoming isolated and alone to avoid depression and decrease one’s risk for suicide.”
Building Resilient Communities in the New Normal was the focus of discussion of Series 2 of the webinar that took place on November 28. The speaker was Asst. Prof. Francis Grace Duka-Pante from the College of Education of the University of the Philippines.
Series 1 that was held on November 21 tackled Self-Care and Healthy Communication, and featured speakers Nurvita Risdiana, MSc and Dr. Falasifah Ani Yuniarti, both from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of Indonesia’s Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyokarta.
The webinar series was conceptualized by the CON in an effort to also give needed focus to family and personal needs during the pandemic.
CON Dean Dr. Minnie B. Mamauag said that it was conducted to also “help sustain the resiliency of our very own faculty members who are oftentimes neglected”.
Mamauag added that she hopes “that whatever we all have learned in this webinar series be inculcated and embedded into our hearts as we adjust to whatever is happening right now.”