Issues are topics of discussion or debate which are sources of disagreement or complaints among the general public (Microsoft Word dictionary, 2007). There many issues that are of importance to all of us in our everyday lives. In nursing, as in any other profession, there are many issues that can instigate arguments or heated discussions among nurses. As part of Athabasca University course 609- Advanced Trends and Issues in Nursing, a debate was chosen as an assignment to present our position concerning a nursing issue. In this paper, I will share my personal journey, challenges and accomplishments as I prepared and presented my debate topic through three power point presentations that were shared to eighteen students in this online course.  
In the introduction module, our professor distributed a list of fifteen possible debate topics that each student had to choose their top three choices in order of preference. As I read through the list, many topics where immediately eliminated due to lack of interest or existence of biases. My order of preference was: Hospitals should ensure all RN Staffing, All nurses must have Flu Shots and lastly, Nursing faculty must participate in relevant clinical practice.  These nursing issues were primarily chosen because I felt I was able to debate both sides of all these topics. I was glad to find out that my first choice was given to me. I currently teach in the BScN and RPN nursing programs at a community college in Sudbury. I am a strong advocate for the RPN students and I truly believe that they have a role to play in our hospital system; however, I firmly believe that RNs are the best choice to care for all patients. Thus, I felt confident in debating my opponent in hospitals should ensure all RN staffing.
 I was a bit disappointed that I was the seventh group presenting in the middle to the end of November. This meant that I would have two assignments due within two weeks of each other. In other words, I would need to start early with the research component of my debate topic to avoid last minute stress. Shortly after the topics were assigned to the students I started searching for articles and websites that contained facts, findings and proof that hospitals should ensure all RN staffing. My first attempt at searching in the Athabasca library e-journals was not successful. I then asked my co-workers if they knew where to find reliable information on the importance of RN in hospital settings. A co-worker suggested to search on the Registered Nurses’ Association and  the Canadian Nurses’ Association websites. Lucky for me both these sites had numerous documents to support all RN staffing. I then searched on the College of Nurse’s website and also found many articles and fact sheets that espoused my debate topic. Another co-worker also mentioned to look for studies done in magnet hospitals. This was an unknown topic to me, yet this tip proved to be a strong argument in my defence.
As I read and commented on classmate’s debate presentations, I became more and more anxious for the preparation of my own debate. I have never participated in a face to face debate or an online power point presentation style debate; therefore, I visited the websites suggested in the debate unit of this course. I listened to three videos, took notes and printed documents that explained the steps to follow to present an argument. This increased my knowledge of how to debate; however, as the weeks went by and my presentation week approached I felt more anxiety as I could not decide on the outline and content of my presentation because I had found so many articles and documents. I thought I would find inspiration after choosing a power point template. I remembered a template that I had utilised last year for a physiological need class. The ‘physicians at work design template’ has a very professional and clean look and so decided to re-use it again. 
One week before my debate, I organized my numerous articles by reading and sorting them according to common themes. Then, I needed to decide which arguments were priorities from my debate. I asked myself these questions: Why do hospitals need to hire only RNs? Why is it important that hospital units staff RNs only? What does the RN possess that makes him /her, the right choice to care for patients? By answering these important questions I was able to narrow down my list to four major arguments. Once the arguments were selected I was able to write my outline and start my debate. Within a few days the content of the slides were quickly filled with supporting data from my articles. To my great surprise, once the introduction and the background were composed, the rest of the content flowed well. From previous experience with other assignments, I inserted my reference in the reference list immediately after I inserted it in my power point presentation. This may have slowed the writing process of the presentation; nonetheless, once all the information was inserted in the presentation, it was all done which I believe helps me keep my papers organized.
My intent was to present a strong and well supported initial presentation. By doing so, I knew that my rebuttal would probably be weaker; however, I was comfortable with this approach. I always wanted to appeal to my audience’s emotions by inserting the ill mother in hospital scenario. I posted my debate presentation on Wednesday November 18th and patiently waited for my opponent to post her presentation. Once her debate was posted I printed the power point presentation but did not start to analyse her arguments and supporting data until the Friday afternoon. This ended up being poor planning on my part; however I teach all day on Thursday and thought it would be quick and easy to put together a rebuttal. Boy was I wrong! This was the most challenging part the assignment and I only had an afternoon and evening to complete it. Due to the lack of time, I struggled to find strong supporting articles to disprove my opponent’s arguments. I then chose to individually rebut each argument utilizing the articles that I had read and printed. I did my best to present a strong rebuttal, though I had presented most of my evidence in my initial presentation I did not have any new facts to put forward. I believe having a strong initial presentation was favourable to me; I came back strong with my closing arguments.
Overall, I believe my three power point presentations were well laid out and flowed well throughout. I plan on continuing on inserting my references in my reference list as I compose my text as this keeps me organized. In regards to searching for articles and documents I would not change the fact that I started early. Next time, I will read and sort my articles right away so that I am familiar with my documents and I am able to plan my outline with less stress. As for waiting at the last minute to complete an assignment because it seems easy, I will never assume or do this again. Working under extreme pressure is not conducive to clear thinking.