Effective Mentorship In Nursing: Developing Learning, Teaching, And Assessment Strategies

Value of effective mentorship for new nurses

The essay is focused towards analysing and evaluating the essential aspects of mentorship in nursing and the value of effective mentorship towards optimizing the efficiency of new recruits in the nursing profession. The case being considered for the study is that of a second year student who is visiting the work area of the mentor for a placement of 5 weeks. The student have been underperforming in the previous placement opportunities that he got. Thus, it is now up to the mentor to devise strategies of effective mentoring, through which the performance of the student can be greatly improved. The strategies will depend on aspects that can enhance the capability of the student to learn. The right kind of teaching practices will be required and subsequently effective assessment techniques have to be used. Mentoring is an essential requirement for budding nurses as well as other healthcare or clinical professional. It is an extremely important phase concerning the nursing profession. The importance of mentorship revolves around the fact that ground level expertise is required largely in the nursing profession in order to serve the patients. The gravity of the roles of nurses require that effective mentoring processes are implemented in order to help new nurses understand, grow and develop themselves according to their roles. It is also an important prospect for senior nurses to reach newer levels in their careers. Senior nurses can attain greater levels of expertise concerning their job positions by mentoring new clinical nursing recruits. Many essential factors need to be effectively tackled in clinics and nursing students may find the challenges overwhelming without proper assistance. Clinical practice requires establishing effective connections with all types of patients in order to cater to their treatment and other treatment-oriented requirements. Mentorship is a crucial aspect that is required to guide nursing aspirants towards achieving greater future productivity concerning their duties.

A case of an underachieving student is essentially considered in the study for the effective analysis of the aspects and factors that govern mentorship. It is important to note that underachieving students can lose their future career prospects in the clinical nursing sector if they are unable to improve their identified shortcomings.

Mentorship of nurses can be effectively enhanced using learning oriented theories to create better learning outcomes among the students. Observation, interaction and emulation are some of the most crucial aspects of a proper learning mechanism (Fleming & Mills, 1992). The theory of Andragogy concerns analysing the learning procedures among students through scientific means and applies generally to adult learners. The theory can be analysed through some essential concepts that are connected with it. The primary aspect is the concept of the self among learners. As people grow, they tend to become more independent concerning their personality and gain a different level of self-awareness. Another crucial aspect that affects learning behaviour in andragogy is the willingness to learn (Dreyfus & Dreyfus, 1980). Adult learners like the nursing student are more inclined towards gaining knowledge that can enhance his/her skill development aspects. The effectiveness of the learning processes also depend on how much ready a person is to gain knowledge. The fourth crucial aspect in this theory is learning orientation. An adult learners knowledge-gaining perspectives generally change from subject centred approach to problem based approach. A fifth point was later added concerning the factor of motivation.  It is completely based on the internal self of the person and cannot be externally influenced (Fleming & Mills, 1992). The factors of the andragogy can crucially affect the knowledge that will be imparted to the student by the mentor. Andragogy is an important approach towards learning as it covers all the essential aspects that concern the learning phase of students. All the factors that effectively lead to the perception of knowledge within an individual and the essential roles of the mentor or teacher is covered through this learning approach. This approach can critically determine the outcomes of learning processes at the very beginning of the learning endeavour (Lee, 2017).

Learning-oriented theories and their importance in mentorship

The theory of pedagogy is based on the teacher rather than the learner. Thus, this theory concerns the abilities of the mentor more than that of the underperforming intern. The theory is mostly based on planning and implementation of teaching techniques (Whitty, 2017). It mostly concerns the interactive participation of the teachers and students towards forming a strong bond between them. Many times pedagogy becomes a broad concept that essentially considers both the ability of the teachers and the perception of the students towards establishing an evaluative framework for the learning process (Knowles, 1980). The effectiveness of pedagogy depends on three significant perspectives of learning orientation. The first is the teacher-centric learning process in which the teacher takes sessions with the whole class (Allen, 1968). The traditional teaching techniques like calling students to answer and inviting explanations from students are part of this process. The second is the learner centric approach towards learning. In this the previous learning experience of students, their effective cognition abilities and their interactions with the teachers are considered much important towards the effectiveness of the learning process. The third perspective is the learning-centric pedagogy this is a perspective and an essential approach of learning that considers both the roles of the teachers and the students with regards to the learning process. This approach tries to establish a balance between the two and produce a balanced outcome of the learning process (Schüblová, 2018). Moreover, the approach essentially considers factors such as the locality or the environment of the learning process. The approach requires teachers to give effective importance to environmental aspects. According to pedagogy, the emotional and psychological factors that can affect students also need to be given importance in a learning process. The mentor has to ensure that the correct actions are taken in accordance with the environment where the placement of the student takes place (Knowles, 1980).

The behavioural and cognitive learning theories approach learning through behavioural and information processing aspects respectively. In behavioural learning techniques, it is considered that a student will associate some events with their effective outcomes and will learn in the same way (Loughran, 2002). Thus, a student will learn through behavioural tendency and the teacher should try to imbibe behavioural aspects within the students that are most suited to the job role or area of learning. Thus, the students will learn the effective reactions to the problem issues that they will have to face during the placement. Cognitive theory is based on the perception of knowledge and learning on the minds of the learners. It is based on the subject’s ability to process knowledge. In the context of the relationship between the mentor and the student. Psychology plays a large part in the conception of knowledge and it is effective towards the nurturing analytical ability of learners (Bosley, 2012). In the context of the placement, it can be said that cognitive ability can help the student to develop skills through which the performances can be greatly improved. Both the techniques can be beneficial for a learner in the process of gaining knowledge. Behavioural learning is mainly used in cases where ground level understanding of available knowledge or phenomenon is required. It is important in case of the student that rules regarding the handling of patients in real-time are taught to the student through behavioural learning techniques. Cognitive learning can be used where more analytical approaches are required. Cognitive learning approach helps a person to get a deeper understanding of knowledge gained in any field. It is much important that this kind of learning is utilized in order to increase ones essential scope of knowledge (Siemens, 2014).

Andragogy

Concerning the role of the mentor, approaches of either classical conditioning or operant conditioning can be used in order to improve the performance of the student. Classic condition is the learning process through the association of certain factors with their corresponding aspects. Operant conditioning is based on a consequence based learning approach. Classical conditioning enhances the situation based learning ability of a person. It can effectively help the student to learn the significant aspects of the nursing professions and the subsequent factors that affect them (Hand, 2006). Operant conditioning on the other hand is based on the consequential value of a specific action. Sometimes in order to understand the significant ground realities that affect the nursing profession it is important that a reward or punishment based learning system is utilized. Operant conditioning is a stricter learning mechanism than Classical Conditioning. It is important that the mentor implement the most suitable learning technique on the student for better outcomes (Durham, 2012). Thus, at times when situational understanding of problems are required, Classical conditioning can be used. It can help the student to identify future issues and their solutions in this way. The performance of the student might have been bad as there was no situational understanding. The mentor can make the student understand about certain situations and the implications of the same situations (Hinchcliffe, 2010). For example the implications of catering to the timely medication requirements of critically ill patients. Operant conditioning can be used to enhance proper behavioural tendencies in the student. The nursing profession requires punctuality, dedication and mental strength. These can effectively be enhanced through operant conditioning (loughran, 2002).

In all, the learning and teaching theories that were discussed demand effective participation from both the students and the teachers. It is important to understand that an optimally successful ability improvement training can only be possible if the mentor and the student works hand in hand. Thus, effective focus should be on developing proper interactive communication and mutually beneficial relationship between the teacher and the students. All the theories are important for understanding the major implications of the learning process of the students. The theories are based on student-teacher relationships. Thus, it is important to understand that a strong connection should be maintained between the mentor and the trainee in order to achieve the most effective results. The theories mostly focus towards how learning processes can leave deeper impressions that are more meaningful on the learner’s life after he/she has started the journey towards the intended career or life path (Skinner, 1938).

Pedagogy

Nursing is a very tough job. It essentially requires tremendous mental and physical effort. Emotional intelligence is a much-required factor that can be crucial towards the effective evaluation of the performance of nurses (Sharples & Kelly, 2007). Thus, it can be definitely said that nurses need to nurture and develop high levels of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence essentially refers to the capability in people to be emotionally aware, having control over and expressive of their emotions. Emotionally intelligent people are able to create better relationships with others. At the same time they are able to make judicious decisions in regards to people that they can connect with and attain a good level of empathetic bonding (Durham, 2012). This is a much-required aspect in the nursing profession. Nursing staffs need to interact with a large number of patients on a daily basis (Dreyfus, 2004). The sick patients need emotional care more than anything else. The doctors normally take care of their medication routines and general aspects that are connected with their physical health. However, most patients suffer heavy emotional breakdowns due to their medical conditions (Siemens, 2014). This requires nurses to develop strong relationships with the patients they cater to. In order to be optimally efficient in their jobs nurses need to develop high emotional intelligence through which they can both systematically improve their patient’s health and at the same time motivate them to be psychologically strong during their recovery process (Cleary, 2018). The student being an underachiever in nursing need to be effectively trained and educated on the values connected with emotional intelligence in nursing. The mentor needs to focus on aspects such as effective communication, relationship development, motivating behaviour, empathetic approach and compassionate service. Unlike other professions, nursing requires professionals to be very much inclined towards selfless service and many times personal gains also have to be sacrificed for the same (Kassirer, 1991).

Emotional quotient of nursing staffs should be high. This is mainly because they have to connect with customers with diverse emotional and physiological needs. It is important that all the essential aspects of patient management be dealt with utmost dedication and professionalism. An effective mentor-student relationship need to be created in order to achieve higher levels of emotional intelligence concerning the job. The interaction between the student and the mentor need to be made in a way in which the student can effectively learn the emotional requirements of the job. As per what was known from the study, the student has underachieved in the previous internship that was undertaken by her (Krathwohl, 2002). Probably, emotional intelligence was one of the areas of improvement that was identified. Thus, the mentor needs to provide much importance to this aspect of the development of the student. It is much important that sufficient knowledge be passed on from the mentor to the student concerning the value of establishing empathetic connections with the patients (Schulze, 2010). Across healthcare institutions throughout the world, there is a rise in the organizational policies providing increasing importance towards emotional intelligence of healthcare workers that are working for it (Fang, 2018). Healthcare sectors are striving hard towards optimizing their overall performances. Thus, nurturing and developing the emotional intelligence of nurses have also become an important part of the jobs of mentors.

Behavioural and Cognitive Learning Theories

Emotional intelligence is required largely when interacting with patient in regards to their specific health conditions and informing about the treatment procedures (Van Doorn, McManus & Yiend, 2012). For example- a nurse often has to advise sick patients in regards to their health requirements. This requires them to develop an empathetic relationship towards patient care (Kilgallon, 2012). The patients need to be made aware of the implications of the health conditions that they suffer from. The major issue becomes the diverse range of severe health problems that the patients might face. The mentor should make clear to the nurse, how she can assists the patients that are suffering from critical conditions. Many times effectively managing the emotional requirements of the patients can ensure their better recovery (Cleary, 2018). This is because health conditions do more than just affect the body functions of an individual. It makes individuals emotionally weak and distressed in many cases (Duckett & Tatarkowski, 2005). As doctors are far more inclined towards looking after the technical health aspects of the patients, it is important that the nurses give equal priority towards improving both the health and emotional issues faced by the patients. However, this is a very tough ask given the scope of work of nurses. Hence, mentorship is much important in order to properly train the student in regards to how she can effectively maintain this job function (Kramer, Hillman & Zavala, 2018). Patients that have to undergo surgeries often face emotional problems. These patients need more emotional care than the others do. In regards to the case of the student and mentor being discussed, the background organization mostly deals with skin related issues (Bosley, 2012). Health issues related to the skin can be extremely sensitive concerning the affected patients. Skin is part of outward appearance and can cause a wide level of traumatic emotional effects on the affected person based on the extent of the effect. It is important that the mentor towards understanding how to strongly motivate patients that are affected by skin problems carefully guide the student (McKinnon, 2016). However, it has to be said that there should be significant participation and motivated approach from the part of the student in order to better learn the techniques related to effective nursing.

In the case, the student has not been successful in any of the previous internships that were done by her. In order to take systematic steps towards developing the essential required aspects of the nursing profession, she has to separate the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that can affect her growth concerning the environment of the healthcare centre (Webb & Shakespeare, 2008). This will provide an effective strategic growth path for the student that is much necessary due to the issues that the student has faced previously. The process of SWOT need to be effectively initiated by the mentor. The mentor should carry out an initial assessment of the student in the beginning weeks of the placement. Moreover a detailed analysis of the SWOT of the healthcare centre also have to be made (Lee, 2017). This should be used in order to significantly identify the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that concern the student. The benefits of SWOT will be that the student will be able to better identify with the path that she has been through and the ways in which she can effectively approach the path that she needs to cover in order to realize her potential in the nursing profession. The importance of SWOT analysis lies in the fact that it helps to identify both the positive and the negative aspects that can affect the essential growth of individuals or organizations (Felstead, 2013). In this case, the weakness of the student is her previous failures and it has to be weighed against the weakness of the outpatient centre. There can be very important strengths that can easily be overlooked if not considered through the SWOT analysis. The mentor should critically identify the essential strengths of the student and place them against the opportunities for growth that are present. Measuring the weaknesses will provide crucial information in regards to how influential it can be over the strength (Vinales, 2015). Measurement of opportunities will help to understand the growth that the student can have considering her nursing career if the challenges can be successfully tackled. Threats will give a clear picture in regards to the major issues that can be a threat towards the career prospects of the student.

Suitable Learning, Teaching, and Assessment Strategies

Considering all the major factors that can either positively or negatively affect the student, certain action areas can be created. For example- One of the identified weakness of the learning environment is the availability of majorly patients that mostly suffer from variants of eczema (MacLaren, 2018). This can limit the learning process of the nursing student. However, the availability of a large number of professional doctors can be sufficient for the student to understand a lot about the various typer of skin diseases that can affect people. The most important strength of the healthcare centre is the availability of many professional doctors and expert nurses. A crucial identified weakness of the medical facility is the outpatient centre, which is a non-emergency-based centre. The majority of the patients thus come to the centre only for a primary level of treatment and patients that are more serious are often moved to the other general hospitals. This can mean that the scope of practical learning is limited for the student and she will have to strive hard towards gaining ground level expertise concerning the subject. She can definitely rely on the opportunity to establish strong professional relationships with the large number of expert doctors and nurses that are part of the organization. Moreover, learning the ways of the experts can help her to increase her job potential rapidly in the field of nursing. An essential threat is that the student might be so much exposed to treating only a single kind of skin condition that she might not be able to experience any significant growth and her job role can experience stagnation.

The various learning oriented aspects that were discussed point to the fact that the mentor and the student both have equally important roles to play in order for the student to have brighter future prospects in the field of nursing. However, it is important after a certain time that the student initiates the process of gaining knowledge on her own. This is because after a certain amount of time, the mentor’s role will depend on how much self-sufficient the nursing intern is able to become. The theories of andragogy and pedagogy can be applied for establishing better relationship between the student and the mentor. The student should enhance her learning capabilities towards understanding the technical performance aspects of her nursing profession. The mentor will have to apply teaching techniques that will enhance the performance of the intern on a real time basis. Emotional intelligence, occupational hazards and SWOT should all be essentially considered in a balanced way in order to develop sustainable development plan for a bright future in nursing.

Conclusion

Conclusively, I was able to understand the various aspects related to effective learning processes in general. Moreover, through the detailed analysis of the specific learning oriented theories and how they can be put to practice, it became clear how one could prepare for approaching any kind of educational endeavour. According to me, the mentor should prepare the nurse for greater future responsibilities. The student should be pro-active in learning the major challenges that she will need to tackle in the future. The nursing profession can become dynamic and interning in a non-emergency health canter can pose greater challenge in the future. I strongly believe that being with people that have experienced all the major issues of the nursing profession can help the student to become an optimally performing nurse in the future. The study has helped me to essentially understand that nursing profession required high amount of dedication and due to this reason an efficient learning process is required that mostly focuses on practical exposure. Thus, effective implementation of teaching and learning methods need to applied to increase the performance potential of future nurses.

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