Facilitating Learning 1

FACILITATING LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT AT THE WORKPLACE

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Facilitating Learning and Assessment at the Workplace

Introduction

“A trained nurse has become one of the great blessings of humanity, taking a place beside

the physician and the priest” are sincere words once said by William Osler. One of the most

gratifying things to any patient is to be served by a professional nurse. For these health providers

to achieve a high level of competence, they must undergo learning and assessment to advance

their knowledge, skills, and value, and ultimately boost their personal and professional

development. The assertion is related to the development of competencies in their prescribed

roles and tasks in the healthcare sector. The foundational reason for the provision of learning and

development is to ensure that personnel in any organization complete their roles efficiently and

effectively. Consequently, this paper dwells on facilitating learning and assessment at the

workplace and pinpoints issues to do with personal and professional development as well as

continuous learning in the development of nursing attitude and behavior. In addition, it expounds

on stress at workplace and the solutions to this predicament, different methods that help workers

to improve their performance and the role of the manager in the facilitation of learning and

assessment. Learning and assessment in the nursing profession are extremely crucial in the sense

that they equip nurses with the needed knowledge and skills to serve patients and enlighten them

on different ways to meet the growing health demands of the rapidly-changing society.

Professional Development

One of the most popular narratives in the nursing practice is that most patients are

neglected and the clients have unpleasant experiences in the hands of inexperienced nurses. As a

result, the nursing profession has been on the spotlight for accusations such as nurses providing

poor quality care (Groves 2014). To deal with these challenges, there are recommended
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approaches that can aid in the provision of quality patient care. However, it is crucial to note that

there is a nursing shortage owing to staff turnover and a high number of an aging workforce.

In the highly demanding society, continuous personal and professional development is

extrmely crucial. The concept comprises reflective, interactive, and collaborative insight targeted

at relevant formative paths and continuous personal and professional update. Professional

development is the means through which professionals maintain, improve, and broaden their

knowledge and skills, including their personal qualities that are needed in their professions

(Zepeda 2013). It aids in the maintenance and improvement of a person’s professional

knowledge and skills and helps them to remain competent in their profession for the benefit of

patients, themselves, and the nursing profession (Zepeda 2013). Others say that it is a

commitment to maintain proficiency through continuous improvement (Pinheiro et al. 2014). It

comprises a wide range of activities through which professionals in the health care system

develop and maintain their careers to improve their capacity to safely, effectively, and legally

practice in the nursing field.

Personal Development

Personal development is a continuous, lifelong process. It is a means through which

people evaluate their individual skills and qualities while taking into consideration their

objectives in life and setting the relevant goals to meet them (Eggert 2013). It comprises all the

activities that an individual undertakes to improve their level of awareness and gain a clear sense

of their identity. In addition, personal development includes efforts taken to build one’s talent

and human capital, enhance the quality of life, and make significant contributions towards the

achievement of their personal and organizational goals (Eggert 2013). It carries on over an

individual’s life and encompasses a variety of developmental processes including professional

progress. In other words, it is the process of pursuing personal growth through the expansion of

one’s level of self-awareness, knowledge, and skills.

Continuous Learning in Developing the Nursing Attitude and Behavior in the Workplace

Continuous education is a basic tenet in the nursing practice, and with the highly dynamic

nursing environment, it is deemed mandatory. The practice environment is evolving rapidly and

demanding advancement in the pool of knowledge in which the nursing practice is founded.

Consequently, nurses have no choice but to keep up with the dynamic nursing landscape through

continuous education.

Nursing education determines factors, such as treatment outcomes, nursing shortage,

faculty shortage, and the nurses’ attitudes and actions. Collins (2013) has indicated that nursing

edification has a significant impact on nurses’ attitudes and behavior at the workplace. For

instance, he has investigated the efficacy of a twelve-hour educational course in diagnosis,

critical thinking, and reasoning among nurses. He has employed a quasi-experimental approach

using two groups to measure their attitude using the Positions on Nursing Diagnosis scale. The

author has established the diagnostic accuracy using three valid and reliable case studies and the

Lunney scoring method (Collins 2013). He has also demonstrated that continuous education

improves clinical reasoning, atitudes, and accuracy in nursing diagnosis.

Using an educational intervention approach increases the nurses’ knowledge, attitude, and

skills in the provision of care. In a capstone project, Alexander (2016) has employed a nursing

education program that is aimed at dealing with any misconceptions surrounding the use of

opioids and the improvement of the assessment and treatment of pain for end-of-life patients. His

conclusion has been based on the fact that using educational intervention tactics equips nurses to

make assessments for pain and administer opioids to manage it. Finally, Marzuki et al. (2013)
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have investigated the issues that are tied to unsafe nursing practices, unproductiveness, and/or

incompetence. They have used a descriptive correlational study design to establish the best

practice initiative in Nursing Practice Environment (NPE) (Marzuki et al. 2013). Their study has

revealed that most participants agreed that Continuous Nursing Education (CNE) programs were

vital and effective.

Stress and how to Deal with It at the Workplace

Stress is a common phenomenon among employees and employers at the workplace. In

fact, Warner (2014) asserts that stress levels are rapidly increasing among nurses, thus resulting

in unpleasant experiences in the work environment. The nursing profession is faced with lots of

challenges since nurses assist different categories of people. Consequently, their work causes

emotional and professional distress that requires urgent attention and measures to manage

(Warner 2014). Nurses are trained to place their patients’ needs before their own and the society

assumes that they are capable of coping with every situation, are resilient, caring at all times, and

loyal (Warner 2014). Besides, they are committed and dedicated to their responsibilities, and

they have to meet the expectations of hospital managers, patients, and society. Therefore, these

care providers suffer from stress and sometimes the stress pressure is difficult to manage and

cope with. For instance, a nurse may need to cover long shifts, attend to more patients than they

can at a time, or work in an under-staffed environment (Waddill-Goad 2013). There are

examples of issues that cause stress among nurses but they have minimum control over them.

Oftentimes, nursing involves activities and relationships that can be quite stressful as caring

about patients with high anxiety levels can lead to different negative emotions.

The daily pressure that nurses undergo may push them into negative adaptive patterns of

thinking and acting, all of which may affect their feeling at work and home. However, the ideal
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way of dealing with stress is recognizing it (Waddill-Goad 2013). Luckily, there are several

effective approaches to stress reduction, including cognitive behavioral interventions and

relaxation approaches. The intellectual behavioral interventions promote longevity of life,

improve emotions, and eliminate self-defeating thoughts (Cherniss 2016). They also promote

individual understanding, encourage personal fulfillment, and increase one’s levels of happiness.

These approaches also support emotional management and target thoughts as the primary

cognitive processes (Cherniss 2016). Markedly, one can change their feelings by transforming

their thoughts and eliminate any negative emotions that are associated with stress through

assumed modification. Consequently, nurses can achieve the goals of stress management and

transform their perceptions and feelings in case of stressful situations.

Methods for Improving Employee Work Performance and Manager’s Role

When employees are dissatisfied, demotivated, and distressed, they may develop negative

behavior that may interfere with the delivery of care or lead to poor treatment outcomes. Several

strategies can be effective in improving the performance of personnel at the workplace.

According to a study by Richardson (2014), five themes are conspicuous and considered

effective in improving workplace performance. They include the workplace environment that

involves the degree of flexibility that the employers are provided, sources of feedback that

establishes measurable standards, and other resources to evaluate employees. Others include the

management relationship or rather the influence of the management on workers, barriers at the

workplace including internal and external factors that get in the way of optimum employee

performance, and the strategies for recruitment and promotion.

All things considered, it is the role of the managers to ensure that they establish the

appropriate work environment, measurable standards for employee performance, positive

relationships with every staff member, and identify and eliminate any barriers that may impede

employee performance. Finally, they should establish appropriate recruitment and compensation

standards to motivate personnel. According to Richardson (2014), organizational leaders may

increase the employee’s motivation to work and performance through strategies that provide a

positive assortment of motivational tools and opportunities. Furthermore, he has indicated that

involving employees in management improves their engagement and attitudes towards work.

Therefore, leaders should employ these strategies to improve workplace performance.

Conclusion

Workplace learning and assessment boost employees’ growth and development. In

nursing, it entails personal and professional progress to cultivate specific attributes that are

crucial in the provision of care to patients. Moreover, personal and professional improvement is

continuous process that is considered mandatory given the dynamic nature of the nursing

profession and environment today. Continuous learning has been found to not only impact the

nurses’ attitudes at the workplace but also their behavior, which ensures the provision of quality

care and improvement of treatment outcomes. The nursing practice is also accompanied by

multiple sources of stress as discussed, but the application of cognitive behavioral coping skills

and meditation can make them manageable. After handling the high levels of stress, nurses can

apply different approaches to improve workplace performance but with the manager serving a

central role in the process.

Reference List

Alexander, S 2016, A Project to Improve Nurses’ Knowledge of, and Attitudes Towards, Pain

Management at End of Life, Scholarworks. Available from:

<https://scholarworks.umass.edu/nursing_dnp_capstone/61/>. [28 June 2018].

Cherniss, C 2016, Beyond burnout: Helping teachers, nurses, therapists and lawyers recover

from stress and disillusionment, Berlin, Routledge.

Collins, A 2013, ‘Effect of continuing nursing education on nurses' attitude toward and

accuracy of nursing diagnosis’, International Journal of Nursing Knowledge, vol. 24, no.

3, pp. 122-128.

Eggert, M 2013, Brilliant personal development: Your essential guide to an all-round successful

life, London, UK: Pearson.

Groves, W 2014, ‘Professional practice skills for nurses’, Nursing Standard, vol. 29 no. 1, pp.

51-59.

Marzuki, MA, Hassana, H, Wichaikhum, O & Nantsupawat, R 2013, ‘Continuing nursing

education: best practice initiative in nursing practice environment’, Social and

Behavioral Sciences, vol. 60, pp. 450-455.

Pinheiro, GMdS, Macedo, APMdC & da Costa, NMVN 2014, ‘Collaborative supervision and

professional development in nursing’, Revista de Enfermagem Referência, vol. IV, no. 2,

pp. 101-109.

Richardson, FW 2014, Enhancing strategies to improve workplace, Scholarworks. Available

from: <https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?

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Waddill-Goad, S 2013. Nurse burnout: Overcoming stress in nursing, Indianapolis, IN, Sigma

Theta Tau.

Warner, HR 2014. Stress, burnout, and addiction in the nursing profession, Bloomington, IN,

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Zepeda, SJ 2013, Professional development: What works. 2nd ed., Abingdon, UK, Routledge.