The Nurse 's Role As Educator And A Review Of Learning Theories

The healthcare industry has intensely advanced throughout the world, in turn changing the principles that incorporate the practice and culture of nursing practice. Altering the model of care to a patient-centered mode signifies an organizational culture shift and requires the participation of executives at the senior level (Cliff, 2012). To practice this care to provide the best care possible, it goes beyond the nurse to all healthcare professionals and senior leadership. The days of patients and nurses following a physician’s order without favor to care has now loaned themselves to more of an interdisciplinary approach to practice. Though, it is encouraged that the patient makes decisions for themselves, after receiving the proper education and information on their condition. Part of the patient-centered care is to be the patients’ advocate, by letting them know you are there for them when they are unable to speak and advocate for themselves and what is in their best interest. That goes in hand with educating them on “self-management of care, health literacy, patient, and family education through nurse-patient communication and interaction (Finkelman & Kenner, 2016, p. 271).”

In health care, the nurse holds many responsibilities. The nurse must care for a patient by following the physician’s orders, assessing labs and objective data, in addition to discerning needs for the patient discharge plan. The discharge plan should be initiated soon after the patient is admitted to the hospital. The nurse, along with the interdisciplinary team, will assess the patient needs for returning home, with the nurse providing much of the discharge education. The purpose of this discussion is to choose two learning objectives for the Shadow Health patient Tina Jones. I will describe the teaching methods I would use, discuss how I would evaluate Tina’s learning, and list any possible barriers to learning. I will also relate this to

Patient-Centered Care: Patients should have control over the care they receive. By involving patients and family members in their care it will result in better health outcomes. “The response of health care professionals to patients’ questions, concerns, and feedback directly influences how comfortable patients are with speaking up” (Spath, 2011, p. 236). As nurses we need to respect our patients’ wishes and give each

Responsible health teachings that are planned to help prevent illness, reduced morbidity, improve health and wellness practices and manage chronic conditions effectively with increasing patient care results. In this respect, Nurse Practitioner must stay consistent in maintaining a culturally sensitive patient-centered care environment by recognizing patients as part of the decision-making process (National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, 2016). The development of evidence-based practice and evaluation practicing of learning become vital parts by providing a significant response to improving the teaching-learning process and, more likely, participate in the competent and excellent in the management of patient care (National League of Nursing, 2016). Health care is continuously developing and improving; Nurse Practitioner must be committed to lifelong learning to continue with the stated fast-paced revolutions. Additionally, NP collaborates with other members of the health care team to promote healthy partnership within the organization to providing optimal care and transition to the care continuum accordingly (National League of Nursing, 2016). Nurse Practitioner decision-making is affected by their ethical principles to make simple decisions

Communication is key to effective healthcare practices. According to American Journal Of Critical Care (2014), Patient-centered care starts with “effective communication, being empathetic and available, avoiding personal prejudges, and listening therapeutically are integral parts of patient-centered care” (Riley, White, Graham, Alexandrov, 2014, p. 320). This will improve communication; promote patient involvement in care, which creates a positive relationship with the healthcare provider and medical team. This results in improved adherence to treatment plan. Clinical practice guidelines need to be implemented for the patient and family members to be able to be involved in informed decision-making regarding healthcare needs. The fundamental core of nursing is to have a partnership with the patient and their family regarding the patient’s outcome.

| In the nursing education the student should be helped to appreciate that not all patients are going to leave the hospital disease free, and that as nurses there is a need to learn that we need to help them in any way we can to achieve their maximum amount

With the help of nurse educators, they are there to educate and teach students, patients, and caregivers about disease prevention and management and health care promotion. The fascinating thing is that being prepared from a master’s program is always constant learning. Not only do the prepared nurses builds on the baccalaureate level, but they are always on their feet to discover new and creative ways to deliver patient-centered care. The master’s prepared nurse would constantly be attending meetings and conferences to come up with better ideas to promote and provide health care, simultaneously learning new things. Sometimes, they may think they know almost everything about healthcare, but when the world is constantly evolving, healthcare would constantly be changing too. Attending meetings, promoting health care, learning and then bringing all those knowledge back to patients and nurses is what keeps patient care great. The role of the master’s prepared nurse provides not just hands on patient care, but they are also prepared to expand their knowledge and pass it on to future nursing candidates to continue to deliver the best quality

Patient and family centered care should occur in each step of the delivery of health care. The patient and family should be included in all of the decision making in the delivery of health care. They should be explained procedures thoroughly and they should also be involved in the evaluation of the care. Spruce (2015) mentioned the importance of health literacy among patients in regards to patient centered care (p. 35). This is beneficial because if the patient is able to understand the process of their illness, then they will be better able to understand the treatments available and what they wish to do in their situation.

Nursing can be a demanding career, but the benefits far much outweigh the challenges. Most importantly, it’s the rewards it offers by allowing an opportunity to make a difference in another person’s life through the provision of care when they need it. Just as Patricia Benner theorized in her book “Novice to Expert,” nursing encompasses both educational knowledge and extensive clinical experience acquired throughout one’s career. This far, I continue to acquire knowledge and clinical knowhow which will promote proper and efficient care to patients. Since I began practicing one year ago in a long-term healthcare facility, I have interacted with patients, families, physicians and other members of the healthcare team to coordinate patient’s care which has enabled me to gain confidence in myself. While I cannot deny that it was difficult to transition from a student to a licensed nurse, I learnt to overcome these challenges and focus on my strengths. Practicing as an LPN has provided a platform to learn and gain experience even though the duties and responsibilities are limited by the scope of practice.

Nurse educators have a stronger clinical focus than nurse administrators, but depending on their role, they may not be involved in direct patient care. The nurse educator helps develop and educate on the evolution of the nursing knowledge base as healthcare needs change over time (Zaccagnini, 2013). To be able to do this effectively, the nurse educator will not only need a strong clinical knowledge, but will also need to be able to effectively work with different learning styles and be able to adapt their presentation of the knowledge to facilitate acceptance of the

One of my interventions in regards to my patient is that we use a family-centered approach of care. According to Maxwell, approximately one third of the time patients are not able to fully participate in the difficult decisions regarding their health goals and the treatments that are to be made or alerted (Maxwell, 2007, p. 368). Being that this is the case it is very important that the nurses and physicians have a good understanding of what the family members want for their loved ones. Although this is an area that most health care professionals are in agreement with and is practiced in all hospitals, this article goes into further detail in discussing certain interventions that are coordinated to specifically ensure that there is strong family to health professional relationship.

The nurse should act as a facilitator, creating an environment conducive to learning that motivates individuals to want to learn and makes it possible for them to learn (Musinski, 1999). The assessment of learning needs, the designing of a teaching plan, the implementation of instructional methods and materials, and the evaluation of teaching and learning should include participation by both the educator and the learner. Thus, the emphasis should be on the facilitation of learning from a nondirective rather than a didactic teaching approach (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1998; Musinski, 1999; Mangena & Chabeli, 2005; Donner et al., 2005).

The nurse’s role would be to evaluate first the patient’s level of understanding of their disease. It is important to also include a patient’s support system when teaching. The nurse must give the patient information about his or her condition in a form he or she can easily understand so the patient can develop a genuine comprehension of the disease process. After the patient has a good comprehension of the disease, he or she can then apply this knowledge to his or her own situation. When this knowledge is applied to a patient’s own situation, the patient is then able to ask questions and form a new way of thinking about living with the disease. When these steps are accomplished, the patient will then be able to create a plan that would help in achieving his or her goals in regards to living with the disease process. As nurses caring for patients with chronic illnesses, recognizing where patients are at in their journey with learning about their chronic illness, and meeting them where they are will help when educating and guiding them to the next step.

As the demand for nursing education grows and with the rapidly advancing roles of nursing, educators need to stay up-to-date. “Theory-based practice provides nurses with a perspective” (Parker, 2006, p.28). With the comprehension and use of educational theories, nursing educators can support student knowledge and development into practice. These theories are outlines of cohesive concepts and principals that describe, explain, or predict how people learn. Every one learns differently and as an educator you need to be familiarized with and open to the use of one or more combinations of theories to successfully teach adult learners in this ever changing health care system. This paper will highlight the use of Constructivist Learning Theory and its application to nursing practice.

There is no doubt that the health care system is constantly changing and working to improve its flaws, to the best of its ability. Whether nurses like it or not we are a part of the ever changing health care system. “With more than 3 million members, the nursing profession is the largest segment of the nation’s health care workforce” (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2010, p. 1). The Institute of Medicine believes that nurses should be active in transforming the profession of nursing, along with the health care system. Regardless, of backgrounds, race, and age all nurses can contribute to the future of the nursing profession. The following paper will discuss the Institute of Medicine’s nursing expectations and recommendations, as well as the opportunity to becoming a clinical nurse instructor.