The Nurse Profession: Mentoring and Enabling Learning in the Practice Setting - Essay Example

Mentoring and Enabling Learning in the Practice Setting Introduction I am a registered nurse currently undertaking mentorship course and for that reason my role is to work with practice mentors and other stakeholders to improve my competence in the nursing and health care industry. This needs me to acquire skills and experience for the benefit of my colleagues and ensure that everybody I am accountable to gets the best cooperation. As a registered nurse in the health care profession, I interact with fellow nurses, mentors as well as other associate mentors in an effort to improve productivity of health services. This interactions and practices help me improve and gain the much needed experience in this field. Every profession including health care can be wide and vast and in order for one to understand and gain experience, they need more than what is learnt in the class. In practicing health care, there is need to have a mentor who will guide the prospecting practitioner with vast experience. NMC defines a mentor as an individual who is registered and has completed the NMC approved mentor preparation programme and has acquired the skills, knowledge and competence needed to meet the defined outcomes. As a mentor, an individual has a key role to play in ensuring that they guide new and potential practitioners as they go through transition. Their roles include; a. Organization as well as coordination of student learning activities in health care practice b. Supervision of students in learning circumstances while giving them constructive response on their achievements c. Setting and supervising achievement that is realistic to learning goals. d. Assessing total performance – including skills, attitudes and behaviours e. Giving evidence of student achievement or lack of achievement as required by programme management. a. Cooperating with the rest of staff to provide feedback, single out any concerns regarding a student’s performance. f. Giving evidence for or taking role of Sign-off mentors with regard to decision making on matters of achievement of proficiency when the student finishes the programme. Mentorship in nursing is very crucial considering the profession deals with lives. This calls for high standards and strictness in carrying out the duties. For that reason, there is need to have proper training, and guidance for new practitioners. This is what has necessitated the need for a mentor. Mentorship programme ensure that new practitioners and students gain the much needed orientation and training in a real life situation other than theory as it is done in schools. According to Bosher and Pharris (2009) mentorship in nursing plays a key role in growing careers as well as develops the social aspect of the individual. The Nursing and Midwifery Council the NMC official regulator of nurses and the main purpose of the council are to protect the public. This is done by keeping a register of all practicing nurses and by developing and setting standards that will guide their education, training, performance, conduct and ethics. The council came up with standards that will help and support learning and assessment in practice in the health care. The standards have been set in form of development frameworks and are put in 4 stages. These include, Registrants, Mentors, practice teachers and teachers. In addition to these four, there is an additional role of Sign-off mentor. This framework was enacted in September 2007 and allot of updates were made in 2008. Over the years, amendments have been made to the framework as a way of improving it. The main purpose for these standards is to facilitate and support learning as well as assessment in practice is to guarantee the Council the people who make judgements and guidance for students have been efficiently and appropriately prepared to assess and review performance based on relevant NMC standards of proficiency and practice. Upon achievement of the necessary standards one can now be registered or gets a qualification that is recorded on the councils register. Strategies to strengthen mentorship The NMC has set out standards for mentors that must be attained to support and assess students undertaking NMC approved pre-registration nursing programmes. These have been very successful strategies that have helped ensure mentorship programme are a success. They include; For a student to be registered on the nurses part of the register, they must be supported and assessed by mentors who have a mark on the register appropriate to the branch of programme that particular student is undertaking. a. All names and details of mentors are kept on a live register of assessors. This register is maintained by the b. Placement providers. Ii an individual is not part of the live register of assessors they are only allowed to undertake c. Student assessment under the guidance and supervision of someone who is recognized by NMC and is appropriately qualified. d. While giving direct care in the practice setting, 40% of the students time must be on direct or indirect supervision by the mentor. Domains for the key competencies Application of Leadership in practice A leader, the mentor has to ensure that they support the student’s access learning materials as well as opportunity. By regularly involving the student in the daily operations, they are likely to gain more skills through practice as well as observation. In a practice situation, there are other associate mentors, working with them and other staff in the practice will expose the student to wide range of skills. As a leader, the mentor should create such opportunities for their students. Implementation and planning of learning experiences ensures that a mentor develops specific objectives for the student based on the learning experiences. According to Connor and Pokora (2012) every mentor becomes a central part of leadership and this gives them the role to inspire and motivate the people under them. The mentor has to ensure that they facilitate and support the learning of their students in ways that expose them to new and unknown skills. Establishing effective working relationships: Working relationships and learning relationships need to be established based on specific objectives for the students. The mentor has a role to understand how the students can be supported especially in the process of transition from one learning environment too another. As a mentor, high level of professionalism should be established in order to facilitate the entry into the register. Regardless of pre-existing relationships with the student, the relationships should be based on student learning and practice processes. Ledlow and Coppola (2011) says that the role of a leader to make sure that all the people working under them experience good working relationships among themselves. Professional challenges around learning and assessment in practice Student absenteeism /inconsistency in attendance In situations where a student for some reasons fails to show up for learning programmes, the mentor is disoriented and drugged behind in terms of teaching and facilitating a student. This affects the students learning process and the effectiveness of the programme. Lack of cooperation from other stakeholders The work of a mentor greatly relies on liaising with the rest of the people in the practice. If these people are not cooperating with the mentor, there is going to be a limitation on the extensiveness of the skill gained by the student. Huston (2014) adds that even mentors need the support of the associate mentors and other members of the staff. By working together, the skills given to as student is more diverse and rich. When there is poor coordination between the mentor and the rest of the staff, the mentorship programme will affected too. Risk of compromising ethics and codes of practice As an effort to establish effective relationship with students, the mentor is at risk of going beyond what is expected and get more attached to their students and this will affect the learning process. The mentor will be at risk of losing the trust of the student as well as the council if discovered. Spouce (2008) says that relationships created between mentors and their students can easily be compromised is both parties do not put much emphasis of professionalism. This eventually leads to low performance of the whole program. Difference in theory and practice Students in mentorship programmes may have presumptions and knowledge regarding certain practices. The situation in practice and learning may come out different from what they learnt from the classes. The mentor may be faced with a challenge in trying to change the perception. Critique of NMC standards The standards have played a key role in ensuring growth within the nursing and generally health care sector. These standards have ensured high level of professionalism making the mentors strive to perfect their practice. With the stipulated domains, the mentors now have a clear guideline that ensures they know what they are doing. Take an example of mentorship without standard. Student s would enter into practice with very little skills and knowledge about the profession. This would put the lives of many people in danger. The standards have not only given out guidelines on how mentors should work with students but has also ensured that only competent individuals end up becoming mentors. Elcock and Sharples (2011) say that the effectiveness and success of NMC mentorship programme has allot to do with the process of selecting the mentors. By setting high standards of qualification and proficiency, the council ensures that it gets the best individuals in the practice to inspire students. The NMC standards have also played a role in protecting the public or patients as well as the reputation of health centres. The standards ensure that patients get the best medical care even if it is being offered by a student. The standards require that the mentors supervise their students while in practice to ensure that they do the right thing. The standards also ensure that a student is able to grow in terms of social well-being by creating opportunity and chance to work with people who inspire them. This eventually boosts the morale of the students and helps build their career. According to Kinnell and Hughes (2010) mentorship programmes have great impacts on students as it boosts their commitment to career and gives them clear sense of direction. The assessment session Assessment can be defined as the evaluation of the quality, nature to ability of an indivdual. Mentorship programmers like any other form of learning process needs assessment for the students in order to establish their progress. Below are some of the reasons why assessment of students by mentors is important; a. Assessment helps the mentor as well as the student understand their weakness and strength in the learning process. b. Helps the student correct and improve on areas that they have been found to be weak. c. Assessment enables the student progress in the learning process as this is the only way a mentor will establish whether the objectives of particular lesson have been achieved. d. Assessment is also important as it makes the student take the learning process more serious for they will have to show complete accountable for all the lessons. e. Assessment is also important as it acts as standard to measure the qualification of a student. This will be used to determine the competence of the student. f. Assessment is way through which a mentor is able to get feedback from the student regarding the learning process and their experience. Types of Assessment Mentorship programme deploys two types of assessments and they include; Summative and formative assessments. Formative assessments This type of assessment is more concerned with the progress and development of the student, identifying their strengths and areas that need development and giving feedback regarding their progress through learning experience. This assessment focuses on the learning needs of a particular placement in order to achieve the set learning outcomes or criteria for practice. The assessment does not lead to grading of marks for the student. Summative assessment This assessment is usually done at the end of a learning experience by the student. The student is issued with the assessment in order to establish the summary of the students achievements of the learning process and the competence. It is based on decision-making and contributes to grading of students. This kind of assessment helps mentors extract feedback that can be used by the student in order to improve their performance in the future. Assessment process Overview In this assessment, I will deploy both formative approaches as this provides a wider scope on individual development. The placement being assessed had been assigned a teaching lesson based on hand hygiene. The assessment was to establish the knowledge and skills ability of the student in teaching health related topics. Introduction The process started by introduction to the placement and overview of the purpose of the assessment. I maintained eye contact with the placement as a way of reducing anxiety and making them feel comfortable in the process of the assessment. The assessment was done in the nurses resting room as at this time, most of the nurses were in duty and we expected little or no destructions at all. I used a checklist that contained or the targeted questions that would help me assess the placement. Previous instructions and guidelines I had issued the placement with detailed instruction concerning the topic they were supposed to undertake in class. I had issued the placement with teaching materials and other materials like lesson plan that would equip them as they go to class. Questioning The questions to the placement aimed at establishing the competence of the placement in teaching topics concerning health matters. All the questions were post assessment and they included; a. How did you prepare yourself for the lesson? b. What teaching tools and techniques did you deploy? c. What concepts did you have a challenge in understanding? d. Was the time given to teach enough? e. What was the response of the students regarding the lesson? f. What questions did the students ask? g. What method did you use to establish whether the lesson was successful? h. What any further reflection do you have about the lesson? The placement was given enough time to answer all the questions. There was not specific period but rather enough time to exhaust the question. This assessment was done on one of the HCA team members and this was crucial as it was to encourage inter-professional relationship between the placement and the rest of the staff. Prior to assigning the task, the placement was allocated with all necessary teaching material and a brief tutorial based on the given topic. The whole lesson was also to equip the placement with skills and knowledge in regard to hand hygiene which is a very important aspect of health care. Personal learning and future developments This assessment helped me discover strengths in the role of a mentor. I have been able to discover my confidence in delivering assessment and communication. However, I need more skills on time management and initial planning for the assessment. I also need to improve on the structure of my check list and in the same line, preserve feedback questions for the last part of the assessment. The feedback from placement will help me give more authentic approval for the nurses’ qualification. According to Walsh (2014) the feedback from placement enables the mentor get a clear picture of the skills and knowledge acquired. Part of the feedback should be an individuals reflection and personal insight regarding the practice. The teaching session The teaching session involving adults has its challenges but can be more effective if all the right skills are deployed in teaching. Majority of adults already have knowledge and skills ability and only need guidance on specific areas. As a nurse in mentorship programme I also play the role of a teacher where I have to share skills and knowledge with students in a given set up. The teaching methods to be used vary depending on particular topics as well as the kind of students I am dealing with. The process of teaching creates relationships between the teacher and the students. It is very important maintain professional standards at all times to ensure effectiveness of the learning no mentoring process. There are students that may have special needs like disability. While dealing with such students, necessary changes should be made in order to accommodate all students regardless of their situation. There are other students who might be considered to be non-traditional and may have difficulty with understanding the concepts or be too slow in comprehension. More time should be created for such students even if it calls for special sessions to make sure they understand everything. According to Englander (2010) there are student who may be slow-learners but this does not make them failures. Some of the brighter students take to gasp concepts but they eventually do when given time. Teaching process The topic of discussion was Hand Hygiene. The lesson had the following objectives; What is hand hygiene Importance of hand hygiene Learn and Familiarise with the six stages in hand washing in order to carry out a proper hand washing technique to prevent infection. Familiarise with the five moment of when, where and why to wash hands The objectives were introduced to the placement (Healthcare assistant) and this was to be revisited at the end of the lesson. The leaning was taking place in the manager’s office which was a more appropriate place because there was minimal disturbance. The placement was asked to give their day to day activities that involve hand hygiene and they were able to list several among them; Eating Visiting Washrooms Taking care of patients In clinical operations The teaching text was based on research and literature review of past material on the same topic. Prior to this teaching session I held a meeting with the placement in order to prepare them for the lesson. Teaching methods This lesson took the method of lecture. Everything was verbal as there were no presentations or whiteboards. The questions to the placement were asked verbally or written down on a paper. The method seemed more effective to the placement. There was no any form of demonstrating as this was a simple concept that only needed explanation. Delivery and period The whole lesson was to take 15 minutes and this was perfectly executed. Within fifteen minutes, all the objectives have been achieved by the teacher and the placement. The delivery method was based on questions to placement. This method would help the placement internalize and reason in regard to their background knowledge. The placements seem to be well informed on the topic but this can be associated with the first meeting we had before the lesson. Personal learning and future needs This teaching session helped me discover other skills such as confidence and articulation which are very necessary in mentorship. The communication between me and the placement seem very effective as the student reacted positively to the lesson. However, I spend so much time in planning for the session but did not delivery relatively well. A proper design should also have been developed for the session. Leadership domain A leader, the mentor has to ensure that they support the placement access learning materials as well as opportunity. By regularly involving the student in the daily operations, they are likely to gain more skills through practice as well as observation. In a practice situation, there are other associate mentors, working with them and other staff in the practice will expose the student to wide range of skills. As a leader, the mentor should create such opportunities for their students. Implementation and planning of learning experiences ensures that a mentor develops specific objectives for the student based on the learning experiences. Personal developments as a mentor As a mentor, there is more that is expected than just fulfilling the standards that have beam set by NMC. The most important role is to inspire and help students grow in their career as well as social-wellbeing. Dealing with placements need high levels of professionalism as well as sensitivity as people can be very different. Human relationships are crucial in every professing and that applies to this programme. Proper relationships should be established to help the students acquired the much needed skills and knowledge. Teaching and assessing of adults needs a more practical approach other than theory. This helps the student get a clear picture and quickly. According to Kyei-Blankson and Ntuli (2014) learning under practical circumstances seem more productive unlike use of theory. Challenges of a role model and a mentor I. One of the main challenges of a mentor is to maintain the professionalism between the mentor and the student. The fact that one is a role model means they may easily compromise the principles governing the profession. II. There are times when the students do not find the role of a mentor important considering they have learnt most of the skills in class. This undermines the role of the mentor. III. Mentorship may be tiring especially while dealing with failing students. This may also discourage the mentor or role model who may find a false perception of their incompetence to mentor students. Recommendations Mentorship programmes need to be introduced at earlier stages in learning process of students and not when they are about to go into workplace. A student who has been mentored over years is most likely to do well in practice. Teaching and learning syllabus should be developed for mentors other than being asked to develop their own syllabus. This would give a standard format for teaching students. Assessment of the placement should be based more of formative than summative. Summative assessment might give a false impression in a situation where the mentor may bias the student and add more grades or marks. Learning outcome Development need Plan for learning experience Work with the rest of the staff and create more learning opportunities Foster Professionalism Growth Focus on codes of conduct and ethics Maintain constructive relationships Demonstrate accountability Maintain integrity on information regarding student grades and achievement Facilitate learning for students Encourage student’s participation in learning processes. Reference list Bosher, S. D., & Pharris, M. D. (2009) Transforming nursing education the culturally inclusive environment New York, Springer Kyei-Blankson, L., & Ntuli, E. (2014) Practical applications and experiences in K-20 blended learning environments Top of Form Englander, M. E. (2010) Nature and nurture of learners: from the perspective of educational psychology. Bloomington, IN, Author House Bottom of Form Top of Form Kinnell, D., & Hughes, P. (2010) Mentoring nursing and healthcare students Los Angeles, SAGE Bottom of Form Spouse, J. (2008) Professional Learning In Nursing Oxford, John Wiley & Sons Ledlow, G. R., & Coppola, M. N. (2011) Leadership for health professional’s theory, skills, and applications. Sudbury, MA, Jones and Bartlett Top of Form Connor, M., & Pokora, J. (2012) Coaching and mentoring at work: developing effective practice Maidenhead, McGraw-Hill/Open University Press Bottom of Form Top of Form Huston, C. J. (2014). Professional issues in nursing: challenges & opportunities. Baltimore, MD; Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Elcock, K., & Sharples, K. (2011) a nurses survival guide to mentoring. Edinburgh, Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier Bottom of Form Read More