Mapúa University School of Health Sciences embraces an interdisciplinary perspective in addressing complex health issues. An initial endeavor to use this collaborative interdisciplinary lens started in the course Health Psychology with the students of Psychology participating in an Immersive Laboratory Learning Experience that allowed them to conduct CPR or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.
With the encouragement of School of Health Sciences Dean Dr. Malaya Santos and Psychology Chair Annabel H. Choy, Health Psychology Instructor Dr. Antero Rosauro V. Arias Jr. proposed this very idea of collaborative endeavor to Nursing Dean Dr. Emmillie Joy B. Mejia. Dean Mejia, meanwhile, suggested CPR or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation which is a life-saving technique useful in emergencies, and a core competency across the different health professions. It involves the basic procedures of administering the so-called ABCs of CPR to refer to Airways, Breathing, and Compressions. The activity was facilitated on July 19, 2023, during the Psychology Week Celebration, at the Nursing Skills Laboratory located at the Ground Floor of the Mapúa University Makati Campus.
Nursing Instructors Mr. Odielon C. Filomeno and Ms. Mary Ann C. Nery initially discussed the essentials of CPR citing the importance of knowing how to conduct the said activity during crisis situations or emergencies. The same is not farfetched from the very idea when one conducts Psychological First Aid or Mental Health Crisis Counseling which is done to prevent the onset of PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder which could similarly be debilitating. The idea then was to get the students to have the necessary knowledge and skills that would come very handy when faced with events involving loss of consciousness due to drowning, heart attack, cardiac, or respiratory arrest.
Nursing Faculty Mr. Odielon C. Filomeno and Ms. Mary Ann C. Nery discussed the ABCs of CPR or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation to Health Psychology Students.
The two School of Health Sciences Nursing Faculty then demonstrated how CPR should be conducted as they similarly responded to the numerous queries of the students involving the risks and opportunities in doing the same during emergencies. Thereafter, the students were asked to practice CPR with the human-like mannequin together with a small CPR-assistive device that measured the number and depth of compressions made. The students were later asked to reflect on their immersive learning experiences. Ms. Patte Fumar, a student of Health Psychology, claimed that her original feeling of being overwhelmed was changed into “one of empowerment and readiness” that instilled a sense of duty to apply her knowledge and skills wisely in times of emergencies.