Nursing Picasso

By Amy Mikel in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 2, 2008 8:28PM

A program at the Art Institute uses art to help nursing students strengthen their observational and visual perception skills. "The Discerning Eye: Visual Observation Skills from the Art Museum to Patient Diagnosis" is a 90-minute presentation meant to be incorporated into the patient-analysis section of the nurse residency program at the University of Chicago. The program aims to increase students’ awareness and ability to filter visual stimuli, while helping to challenge the perception that art has no tangible value in the real world.

The Discerning Eye was developed in 2005 through a partnership between Rhonda Blender, director of the University of Chicago Hospitals Academy Nursing Program, and Sarah Alvarez, assistant director of adult programs in the Art Institute’s Museum Education Department. Alvarez teaches each session, which takes place at the museum, using art like Monet’s "Stacks of Wheat" and Picasso’s "The Old Guitarist" as the basis for interactive discussions about how visual interest is triggered and how to organize visual information.

Blender says that a shaky confidence in assessment skills causes many nurses to drop out of the profession within their first few years.

Image via p2wy