Abstract
Atypical presentation of illness is one of those phenomena where “seeing is believing”. Expert geriatric nurses and clinicians know all to well the early signs and symptoms of this frequent masquerader of bacterial infections, pain, acute myocardial infarction, heart failure or other serious medical ailments in older adults. Students however, as novices to clinical practice, require interactive learning approaches to reflect on the client’s illness presentations, help with developing the necessary skills to analyze and synthesize clinically relevant data, and to witness resolution of an atypical presentation when found and treated. We discuss various learner-centered, interactive approaches to teach students how to recognize an atypical presentation of illness using a real-life clinical case. Outlined are teaching strategies for faculty, drawn on visual, auditory, reading and kinesthetic modes of student learning. Use of the senses to teach nurses about care of patient’s is not entirely new or innovative, as reflected on by Florence Nightingale’s (1846) earliest writings of the "rules of nursing".