Essential Skills for Higher Education and Healthcare: A Reflection

AbstractThis musing essay aimed to present the key encyclopedism and gaps in knowledge and practice of a student nurse. The Gibbs pret culminationing of take a hopion was used to evaluate and analyse the scholarship needs of the author. An action plan is presented at the end of the essay to demonstrate the checkering aims and activities needed to achieve these aims. These be needed to prepare the author in her future work as a registered nurse.IntroductionReflection allows student nurses and health finagle practitioners improve rate of flow and future nurse practice by learning from ones experiences (Bulman and Schutz, 2013). This essay aims to present a reflective account on my role as a student in health tuition and as a future health foreboding practitioner. Gibbs (1988) model of reflection leave be used to reflect on my experiences as a student nurse.DescriptionMy work as a Health bring off Assistant in the past six years helped me decide to pursue a nursing command ment. I was able to work in a busy environment and experience running(a) with affected roles with different pagan background and a multi cultural health care team. Seeing patients improve as a consequent of the care they receive from healthcare professionals was one of the significant events that helped me decide to run a nurse. My life as a student nurse is challenging since I stupefy to balance family life with work and my studies. I have to demonstrate key nursing skills, become a sovereign and independent assimilator, take responsibilities, manage my clip and follow rules and regulations of the university. I similarly have to prepare myself to become a future healthcare practitioner. For instance, I have to acquire skills to meet the physical, psychological, spiritual and social needs of my patients. I excessively have to secure that care received by my patients is evidence-based. In addition, I have to achieve the competencies required by the nursing and Midwifery Councils (NMC, 2008) code of have a bun in the oven.FeelingsI am excited in my new role as a student nurse. My training in the past has been in accounting and business and my career falling out brings some challenges. However, I am happy pursuing what I love to do. While I am passionate with my new role, I am also aware that becoming a nurse requires vast training and study. Hence, I want to transgress skills such as becoming an independent and autonomous learner in order to succeed as a student nurse. I also need to demonstrate key skills in order to prepare myself to become a registered nurse. At times, I am confused if I would be able to acquire all the skills needed to become an effective nurse. For instance, I heart that communicating with patients with different social backgrounds could be a challenge. While I was able to witness how nurses advance with patients of different cultural backgrounds, I am aware that this would not be easy in actual practice. I also fee l that I need to develop skills on how to deliver patient-centred care this is holistic. abridgment and EvaluationDeveloping the self-directed and independent learning style is crucial during the undergraduate nursing years. Kaufman and Mann (2010) nominate that problem based learning is common in medical education and helps students to become independent learners. erudition styles differ amongst adult learners. Biggs and Tang (2007) emphasise that an individuals learning style is a result of affective, physical and cognitive factors. An individuals learning preference is influenced by need, cognitive style, attitude, personality and a students stage of development (Cassidy, 2004 Biggs and Tang, 2007). On reflection, I have to consider my own motivation and cognitive style in order to become a successful independent learner. I also have to determine my own stage of development as a student. consumeers are identified into at least four types of learners. These are the visual, aura l, read, write and kinaesthetic learners (Cassidy, 2004). During independent learning, students should be able to identify their learning style in order to optimise the learning process. On reflection, I learn beat through and through observation (visual), reading and writing (R) and practicing what I learned (K). I can use all forms during self-directed learning. For instance, I can participate in simulation training to visualise the skills that I need to learn. Next, I can read on the topic and write a reflection or notes on what I learned. Finally, I can report my learning to my supervisors or mentors through presenting clinical skills. While self-directed learning is barely one method employed in my nursing curriculum as a agency to acquire knowledge and skills, this learning method is very important in my future role as a nurse.It should be noted that the Nursing and Midwifery Councils (NMC, 2008) code of conduct stresses the importance of providing prize evidence-based ca re to my patients. To meet the competencies contained in the NMCs code of conduct, it is necessary that I inform my current nursing practice with current evidence from published literature. This is also emphasised in the NMC (2010) standards for nursing students in the UK. Evidence-based care (Greenhalgh, 2010) is described as the type of care supported by findings from published literature, personal experiences, expert impression and patient experiences. Becoming an independent learner will help me in future role as a nurse since this will help me search for literature and evidence on the current and best form of intervention for specific healthcare conditions.Apart from becoming an independent learner, I also realise the importance of growth my converse skills. The NMCs code of conduct states the importance of developing empathy to patients and providing them with tone care. This is only possible with effective communication (Purden, 2005). Barclay et al. (2007) suggest that effective communication is possible if patients have learned to verify their healthcare practitioners and are allowed to participate in healthcare decision-making. colloquy involves bewareing to both verbal and non-verbal messages of the patients and identifying their healthcare needs (Barclay et al., 2007). It is noteworthy that language barriers may become a deterrent to effective communication (Leonard et al., 2004). This is curiously evident when patients and nurses have different ethnic background (Leonard et al., 2004). These differences may contribute to misunderstanding especially if patient education is not culturally sensitive or nurses fail to consider the patients preferences, cultural background, tradition and beliefs before introducing an intervention.As a student nurse, I am aware of the importance of communication and why it is necessary for me to develop communication skills that are sensitive to my patients culture, traditions and beliefs. Developing these ski lls during my student years will help me become more sensitive to the needs of my patients. It has been shown (Barclay et al., 2007) that effective communication is a prerequisite to quality care. Many patients (Majumdar et al., 2004) express that the time nurses spent with them allowed them to communicate their feelings and needs better since they were able to communicate in an unhurried environment. On reflection, it is essential that as a student nurse, I will learn how to listen to my patients and determine their needs. It is also essential that I receive training on how to develop cultural sensitivity when dealing with patients with different ethnicity. Majumdar et al. (2004) stress the importance of assigning patients with different ethnicity to healthcare workers who share similar ethnic background. However, this might not be achieved in all instances in actual healthcare settings. Hence, it is essential that nurses should be trained on how to develop cultural sensitivity.On reflection, I also learned the importance of developing skills on how to promote psychological, social, emotional, physical and spiritual care of patients. As a student nurse, I am still beginning to develop these skills and understand that it will take time to develop all these skills. I realised that these skills are best learned when working with other healthcare professionals. Hence, it is crucial that I learn how to fall in in effect with other healthcare workers. Apart from developing effective communication skills, I also need to learn how to work with others and manage conflicts during meetings. It is suggested that conflicts (Leonard et al., 2004) do not lead to poor team working but provides an opportunity for team members to choose the best form of intervention for a specific healthcare condition. Conflicts also allow team members to view an issue from different perspectives.ConclusionIn conclusion, there are many skills that I still need to develop as a nursing student preparing to become a registered nurse in the future. To date, I need to hone my skills in independent or self-directed learning. I also need to develop communication skills, cultural sensitivity and learn how to collaborate effectively with other team members. All these skills are necessary to help me observe the NMCs code of conduct and gain competencies for registered nurses in the UK.Action PlanThe following are the objectives of my action planImprove skills on how to bleed out independent or self-directed learning. Develop communication skills. Develop cultural sensitivity. Learn how to collaborate effectively with team members Table 1. Action Plan AimActivitiesWeek(s)Mentor/Supervisor Comment(s) Improve skills on how to carry out independent or self-directed learningEngage in self-directed learning on specific topics in nursing.1-4 Develop communication skillsAttend simulations on how to communicate effectively with patients suffering from chronic or acute conditions recover /shadow senior nurses on how they communicate with patients suffering from different conditions5-8 Develop cultural sensitivityAttend simulations on how to develop cultural sensitivity watch videos showing nurses demonstrate cultural sensitivity when caring for patients with different ethnic background shadow senior nurses and observe how they show cultural sensitivity to patients with different ethnicity9-12 Learn how to collaborate effectively with team membersBecome part of healthcare teams/ shadow healthcare teams and observe how they collaborate with each other13-16References Barclay, J., Blackhall, L. & Tulsky, J. (2007) Communication strategies and cultural issues in the delivery of bad news. diary of Palliative Medicine. 10(4). p. 958-977.Biggs, J. & Tang, C. (2007) Teaching for quality learning at university. 3rd ed. England and New York Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.Bulman, C. & Schutz, S. (2013) Reflective Practice in Nursing. 5th ed . London John Wiley & Sons.Cassidy, S. (2004) Learning styles An overview of theories, models and measures. Educational Psychology. 24(4). p. 419-444.Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by doing A guide to didactics and learning methods. Oxford Further Educational Unit, Oxford Polytechnic.Greenhalgh, T. (2010) How to read a paper the basics of evidence-based medicine. 4th ed. Chichester Wiley-Blackwell.Jarvis, P. (2010) Adult education and lifelong learning Theory and Practice. London Routledge.Kaufman, D. & Mann, K. (2010) Teaching and learning in medical education. In Swanwich, T. (ed.). concord medical education. ASME Blackwell Publishing.Leonard, M., Graham, S. & Bonacum, D. (2004) The human factor the critical importance of effective teamwork and communication in providing safe care. BMJ timbre & Safety. 13. p. i85-i90.Majumdar, B., Browne, G., Roberts, J. & Carpio, B. (2004) Effects of cultural sensitivity training on health care provider attitudes and patient outcomes. Journal of Nu rsing Scholarship. 6(2). p. 161-166.Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (2010) Standards for pre-registration nursing education. London Department of Health.Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (2008) The Code Standards of conduct, executing and ethics for nurses and midwives. London Nursing and Midwifery Council.Purden, M. (2005) Cultural considerations in interprofessional education and practice. Journal of Interprofessional Care. 19(1). p. 224-234.