I want to highlight a situation I have been in over the last 2 months and how learning to debate and articulate a clear position has been invaluable.
As the program manager for a clinical area and the programs that operate within that area, I have been involved in 2 critical reviews over the last 3 months. Both deaths occurred within 2 months of my taking on this new role and were both under the same service. This service has also had 3 other critical reviews over the previous year. There are certainly system issues with both of these cases.
The responsible service has been able in the past to put forward personal agenda items as the cause of these deaths. During the many weeks of interviews and debates and writing of the report, I have been able to ask questions that have uncovered other issues and helped to create plans that may help to solve some of these issues. But it has been difficult to maintain appropriate questioning without being accusatory or defensive when nurses' abilities are questions.
 Being able to articulate a position in a constructive and professional way is very helpful in my role and I have learned skills in this course that will be helpful in the future as I continue to negotiate with this service.
(I will answer more about the specific debate topics and skills around that in the next few days).
thanks.

	
1- My first feelings when I realized I would need to participate in a debate, was uneasiness and uncertainty as to how I would be able to conduct a debate. I dealt with my initial response by starting to do research on my topic so that I could be prepared.
2- When I was preparing for my debate, I was frustrated as I couldn't find much information on my topic. I thought that I should have picked a topic which was easier to gather information about, but I suppose others probably felt the same way. 
3. I felt more confident once I posted my debate as I felt I understood my topic and could then articulate an appropriate rebuttal.
4.The review and preparation of the rebuttal felt very rushed and it was difficult to have the rebuttal prepared by the Friday deadline. Actually completing the rebuttal though was easier than the initial debate as I only needed to address the statements made by my opponent (I didn't need to think of all the possible arguments as I did when I was preparing the debate). Preparing the rebuttal helped my to better understand how to debate. I needed to soundly argue against by opponent's position in a respectful and thorough way.
5. I would have appreciated more information on what specific criteria I was to use in evaluating my debate. I wrote my self-evaluation using what I thought were the important elements but it may not have been what you felt were important. In general I feel it has always been helpful to self-evaluate my work as it helps me in future assignments and courses to correct the mistakes I made and to ensure that I completed the work appropriately.
6. I did already mention how the process of debating helped me in conducting two critical reviews for my program. I need to be able to discuss and argue specific points in a way that is respectful yet helps to ensure all the important elements have been considered.
7. I believe this is an effective learning strategy for this course. In this course the student must be able to understand and articulate the trends that have affected nursing and be able to speak to them. The debate helped with that learning.
8. I struggled with determining an appropriate topic for my trends paper. Maybe it is because I had never written a trends paper before or maybe it is because there were so many possibilities that it was difficult to choose an topic that would have meaning for me in my practice.