Health Education: Session 4

• Nurses are responsible for the education of patients, families, staff and students.
• The learner - not the teacher - is the single most important person in the education process.
• The three determinants of learning that require assessment are:

  1. The needs of the learner 2. The state of readiness to learn 3. The preferred learning styles for processing information
• Identify the learner: The development of formal and informal education programs for patients and their families, nursing staff, or students must be based on accurate identification of the learner.
• Establish a trusting environment: Establishing a trusting environment will help learners feel a sense of security in confiding information, believe their concerns are taken seriously and considered important, and feel respected.
• Collect data on the learner: Once the learner is identified, the educator can determine typical health problems or issues of interest to that population.
• Include the learner as a source of information: Learners themselves are usually the most important source of needs assessment data.
• Involve members of the healthcare team: Other healthcare professionals may have insight into patient or family needs or the educational needs of the nursing staff or students as a result of their frequent contacts with consumers as well as caregivers.
• Prioritize needs: A list of needs can become endless and seemingly impossible to accomplish.
• Determine availability of educational resources: A need may be identified, but it may be useless to proceed with interventions if the proper educational resources are not available, are unrealistic to obtain, or do not match the learner's needs.
• The assessment of demands of the organization yields information that reflects the climate of the organization.
• Time-management issues should be considered in the assessment process.
• Informal Conversations Often leaming needs will be discovered during informal conversations that take place with other healthcare team members involved in the care of the client, and between the nurse and the patient or his or her family.
• Structured Interviews The nurse asks the leamer direct and often predetermined questions to gather information about learning needs. Examples of questions that could be asked of a patient as learner are as follows:
• Focus groups involve getting together a small number (4 to 12) of potential learners to determine areas of educational need by using group discussion to identify points of view or knowledge about a certain topic.
• Self-Administered Questionnaires The learner's written responses to questions about learning needs can be obtained by self administered questionnaires. Checklists are one of the most common forms of questionnaires.
• Tests: Written pretests given before teaching is planned can help identify the knowledge level of the potential learner regarding a particular subject and assist in identifying specific needs of the leamer.
• Observations can provide useful data related to needs.
• Documentation Create patterns that reveal learning needs.
• Witten Job Descriptions A written description of what is required to effectively carry out job responsibilities is a source to determine potential learning needs of staff.
• Formal and Informal Requests Many times staff will be asked for ideas for educational programs, which reflect what they perceive as needs.
• Quality Assurance Reports Trends found in incident reports indicating safety violations or errors in procedures are a source for establishing leaming needs of staff that education could adequately address
• Chart Audits Audits of charts help identify trends in practice.
• Rules and Regulations A thorough knowledge of hospital, professional, and healthcare requirements helps to identify possible learning needs of staff.
• Self Analysis: Self directed analysis Gap Analysis: Analysis on the gap in knowledge needs to be acquired
• Types of Readiness to Learn P = Physical readiness

  E = Emotional readiness

  E = Experiential readiness

  K = Knowledge readiness
• Physical readiness -measures of ability complexity of task -environmental effects -health status -gender
• Measures of Ability.

  Creating a stimulating and accepting environment by using instructional tools to match learners' sensory abi will help to pique their interest in learning.
• Complexity of Task

  In learning to perform a skill, the nurse educator must take into account the difficulty level of the subject or task to be mastered by the learner.
• Environmental Effects

  An environment conducive to learning will help to keep the learner's attention and stimulate interest in learning.
• Health Status

  Assessment of the learner's health status is important to determine the amount of energy available as well as present comfort level-both of these factors heavily influence one's readiness to learn
• Gender Research has indicated that women are generally more receptive to medical care and take fewer risks to their health than men.
• Emotional readiness -anxiety level (4 levels) -support system -motivation -risk-taking behavior

  -frame of mind -developmental stage
• Reachable moment

  the unique opportunity that nurses have to provide emotional support to patients. She
• Motivation The motivation and interest on the part of the leaner to achieve a task also lead to more meaningful teaching-learning experiences
• Risk-Taking Behavior Taking risks is intrinsic in the activities people perform daily. Many activities are done without thinking about the outcome
• Frame of mind involves concem about the here and now. If survival is of primary concem, then readiness to learn will be focused on meeting basic human needs
• Developmental Stage Each task associated with human development produces a peak time for readiness to learn, known as a teachable moment"
• Experiential readiness -level of aspiration -past coping mechanisms -cultural background -locus of control
• Experiential readiness refers to the leamer's past experiences with learning.