Why Is Learning Theory Important In Nursing

The four ways of knowing, embodied in the nursing discipline, are all equally important to practice (Hatrick Doane & Varcoe, 2014b). For this reason it is important to consider areas of strength as well as areas that may require more focus in the future to ultimately improve future practice.

The aim of this essay is to reflect on the personal development in one of the four domains at the progression point 2. The four domains of nursing care are professional values; communication and interpersonal skills; nursing practice and decision making; leadership, management and team working (NMC, 2016). These are the essential areas where student nurses have to improve their knowledge and skills prior to the nursing registration for improving the quality of nursing care that they provides afterwards (NMC, 2016). The chosen domain for this particular essay is the nursing practice and decision making, as the author had experienced an incident during the placement which is most

Nursing is a learned profession. It begins as a first day nursing student who is unknowledgeable about protocols and procedures utilized to care for another human being with individualized disease processes. Four years ago, I started in nursing school as an unknowledgeable person and blossomed into an educated nurse that follows protocols and procedures while taking care of patients daily. Patricia E. Zander focuses on the different aspects of nursing by involving Barbara Carper’s “four patterns (ways) of knowing in nursing” (Zander, 2007, p. 8). Different types of knowing are described as the basis for nursing care. I believe a nurse is guided through each way of knowing through different steps in their nursing career.

In this article, researchers explored the different ways nursing students learn in a clinical setting. Nursing students reflected on certain learning opportunities that were significant to them in their first year of clinical practice. Students indicated that participating in complex tasks, being emotionally invested in the work they were all doing and finding an experienced nurse to be their role model were among the most important learning opportunities they experienced in their first year. Researchers found that students felt their learning was more meaningful when they were actively engaging in their learning. The article was harder for me to relate to as it only drew from experiences of first-year nurses in a clinical setting; as a second

This author also believes that her knowledge and confidence of nursing theories has increased with the completion of this course. This writer believe that the writer now has a better understanding of nursing theories after completing this course. By completing this course the writer believes that we have all increased our knowledge of nursing theories and in turn increase the quality of care that the patients are receiving. This author was thinking the same things when the author first started this course, just get through this course. When the writer completed her baccalaureate degree program nursing theory was something that we spent one class on which, made nursing theory confusing to the author. Now having taken a whole semester of nursing

In this learning style paper, I will reflect on a conflict of my past experience as a cook which promoted my learning style. The results from my Learning Survey Inventory (LSI) and Learning Centre Survey (LCS) has given me guidance to critically analyze on not only the strengths, but also the areas of improvements to make my learning more effective as a nursing student. In this reflection, I will discuss my experience of a conflict with a trainee at Coquitlam Cactus Club Café with the help of my results from LSI and LCS that has given me the motivation to increase my learning potential,

The nursing profession is fundamentally based on the nursing models and theories which encompass the specialised body of knowledge and pool of skills which are distinctive to the profession. The theories in the nursing profession are fundamental for the knowledge development and an essential tool for the nursing practice part of the discipline (Pamela, 2011). The theories in the nursing profession are applicable and practical since they have to coordinate and smoothen the communication among students, practitioners as well as other health-related persons (Marlaine, 2015).

For example it is important that we recognise our own learning styles to enable us to adjust to different methods of teaching and target areas that we know need improvement (Carter et al, 1999). This is extremely important as the nursing profession involves lifelong learning and a requirement of registration renewal is evidence of extended learning.

Patricia Benner’s nursing theory is significant because it distinguishes among the different stages in a nurse’s career. Nursing is not one size fits all. Nurses become more confident with their skills, as they progress through the stages, because they have acquired experience, through various situations and

Nursing theories are critical for education and practice. The theories suppose to provide a foundation for general knowledge and assist in practice. Thus, healthcare professionals, managers, and patients recognize the unique healthcare service. However, nursing theories have been mystifying and confusing to use for nursing practice. Colley, S. (2003) argued that nursing theories bewildered nurses. Nurses were difficult to understand, and difficult to apply in practice (Colley S., 2003). Even though, nursing theories are necessary to decide for future studies in health care service, the no relevant ideas are less meaningful. Thus, theories should be understandable, and the knowledge needs applicable in the practice. Colley, S. (2003) asserted the gap between the nursing theories and the healthcare service has arisen that some nursing theories derived from other disciplines such as psychology and sociology (Colley S., 2003). The applying the knowledge from different disciplines merely diminishes functions of nursing practice. Also, the theory language is ambiguous and vague. Each author used different terminology depends on he/she’s perspective. The unclear language causes nurses neglect the principles. Therefore, nursing theories should provide an accurate and a deep understanding into a distinctiveness of nursing. The nursing theories have to relevance to practice. Thus, the theory and practice related should be clearer, and might be an insight. There is no doubt about

“From Novice to Expert”, the nursing theory by Patricia Benner, is probably the easiest theory of all to understand. One of Benner’s messages is that a well-rounded professional does not miss out on opportunities to learn from life as well as in nursing school and in the nursing practice. In her theory Benner describes the 5 stages of nursing experience beginning with novice and moving up to the final stage of expert. She describes how every stage builds on and is dependent on the previous stage(s), and how one can learn from all of his or her experiences and builds on those experiences (Benner, 1982). According to Benner, a nurse could gain knowledge and skills without actually learning a theory.

The nursing program contains of clinical and theoretical courses that complement each other. The nursing program is focused towards preparing professional and competent nurses who would apply their knowledge and skills throughout their work process. Therefore, emphasis should be placed on students’ clinical learning and training since it applies all the clinical skills; affective, psychomotor, and theoretical knowledge. In nursing education, the information and the skills attained in the clinical setting with real patients is far more helpful than organized scenarios in the laboratories or in a lecture room. Clinical practice provides nursing students with the opportunity to apply knowledge as well as developing their psychomotor skills that are vital for their professional progress (Chesser-Smyth, 2005; Oermann & Gaberson, 2013; Sendir & Acaroglu, 2008). In most nursing programs, nursing students spend approximately half of their education within the clinical area using advance technical equipment and perform nursing procedures that can cause serious harm to their patients, thus increasing their fear of creation errors; so it is alarming that they view the clinical practice as very stressful (Chan, So, & Fong, 2009). During clinical practice, nursing students are frequently exposed to various stressors which may directly or indirectly hinder their learning and performance. The nature of clinical education presents challenges that may cause students to experience stress

For nurses to obtain a license, they need to obtain a rigorous amount of classes which includes specific skills of teaching and learning, that gives them the knowledge, good judgment, and wisdom that they need in order to pass the board exam and to become registered nurses. Education is a vital tool to close the gap between knowledge and practice, with the only purpose of increasing quality of care and evidence based practice for the patients. Nursing students sometimes notices the difference between the demands of their tutor and the practicing nurses. When they go to clinical practice and they have to face the real situations on a daily basis in a regular floor, in which they are unable to come up with an answer from what they have learned in theory, that’s where gaps start to fill in. The discrepancy between nursing as it is taught in school and nursing as it is practiced by students in the clinical setting has been an issue for a long period of time, which concerns learners, teachers and practitioners. There has been proven that nurses who are excellent in paper and school lack knowledge in the field. Studies has shown that many graduated nurses who do very well in school, are unable to put the pieces together in the actual field. If this theory-practice gap is not caught on time, it will definitely have consequences in the future because the principles are not well stablished to operate in the workplace. Furthermore, this can cause the new graduate to feel overwhelmed

Another theory that would be supportive to a philosophy for a school of nursing is constructivism. “Constructivism is a learning perspective, arguing that individuals construct much of what they learn and understand, producing knowledge based on their beliefs and experiences.”

As I am reaching the end of this course, I am looking forward to put my learning experiences into my practice of nursing. This course was very productive. Specifically, these nursing theories help me to generate further my nursing knowledge, by giving me a sense of identity. I learned how nursing theory can help my patients, the managers and other health care professionals to recognize the unique contribution that nurses make to the health care service. Furthermore, this course helps me as a nurse to understand my purpose and role in the health care setting.