Discuss And Analyze What Strategies You Will Use To Facilitate Marcia’s Learning, Considering Her Learning Style And Experience

Mentorship

A mentor is a person who has completed and has been approved by the NMC mentor preparation program. The mentors act as gatekeepers who protect the public and ensure the competency of the workforce.

Q1. Discuss and analyze what strategies you will use to facilitate Marcia’s learning, considering her learning style and experience.

Marcia is a first-year student who believes that she has to understand theories to comprehend information easily and also prefers visual aids to understand better. Here are several strategies that I will use to make her learning easy:

• Dual coding: Marcia is a student who understands better by the use of visual aids and comprehending theories; the best and first method to employ would be dual coding, this is whereby you combine the theories with visual aids like charts and diagrams in order to explain a concept and make her learning experience easier and make sure that she understands as much as possible (Aston, 2014,p.102).
• Use of concrete examples: I will employ this method in explaining the concepts with a concrete example that relates to the theories, and I will also encourage Marcia to explain the concepts using her examples and according to her understanding just to assess her level of understanding.
• Elaborative interrogations: I will encourage this method as it will help her remember the concepts and theories better. This tactic entails her reading concepts and jogging her memory by trying to explain why it is the way it is in her mind without necessarily having to go back to the books. This will help her have a deeper understanding of things as she will have a personal explanation that is unique to her and according to how she understands.
• The use of acronyms: This is a series of letters that spell a word, and each of those letters represents another word which is important to be remembered. This method makes the remembering of facts and concepts easy. This will make learning easy for Marcia and also enjoyable.
• The keyword and summarizing method: The keyword method is whereby I will give Marcia the keywords of certain concepts that need to be remembered and then explain them from that angle. The summarizing method is whereby I will show Marcia how to summarize a lot of notes into a few important details, which she can be able to explain without the aid of books just by depending on her memory.
• Collection of data: Marcia will be required to collect data from the activities, which will be used in discussions later and assessments.
• Peer evaluation: This is analyzing and evaluating the other peer’s activities and how they are conducting them, which may reflect on Marcia and how she performs her roles and responsibilities. (Dreary, 2003, p.76).

Q2. Develop, evaluate, and rationale the completion of a learning and development plan for Marcia while she is with you over the next eight weeks.

We are guided by the SMART goals and objectives, which entail the following:

• Specific: A nurse should always be specific in regard to why, what, and how.
• Measurable: A nurse should work on a monitored timeline and ensure progress is seen in a task that she undertakes.
• Achievable; should ensure that her goals are possible and attainable, for example, curing people with medicine.
• Realistic; it should not be a hypothesis; the goals should be relevant to nature.
• Time; there should be a time limit on which the goal will be achieved.

Q3. Complete a SWOT analysis of factors that may affect your mentoring and supporting your student effectively, and evaluate and analyze how you can address one of these.

Strengths

Marcia’s willingness to learn new things and concepts.

Availability of learning aids like books and charts(Duffy, 2007a, p.29).

Availability of equipment that will ensure practical training.

Marcia has a fresh mind and will learn better as she is straight from A levels.

Weaknesses

Marcia requires visual aids to understand better. This may be a problem as we will have to incorporate visual aids in most things that we learn, which is hectic.

In the short time span that we have together. The time is short, and we have many things to cover.

Opportunities

Use all the amenities that have been provided to aid in learning.

Exercise practical learning in this setting to ensure Marcia has the first-hand experience of being a nurse.

Threats

The intensity of the work or the work overload may overwhelm Marcia as she is straight from her A levels.

The practical work may frighten Marcia if she is not a strong spirit.

Q4. Provide details of how you will affirmatively assess Marcia’s development over the eight weeks, analyzing and evaluating how the assessments are valid, reliable and consistent.

Assessment is the most important stage because we shall be able to tell the progress that Marcia has made and to determine whether she has the determination that is required in this field.

• Direct observation: This is whereby under my close supervision, I will let Marcia work on her own and let her be practically involved in all the processes that she will undertake. (Elcock, 2011, p.67).
• Work product: Marcia will be expected to provide sources of evidence in the practice placement, for example, witness statements, care and treatment assessment plans and care and treatment plans. This will be able to show us Marcia’s clinical ability.
• Student self-assessment: the student must be able to self-assess herself and be able to measure herself and how she has performed. She should be able to say whether she has learned and understood the concepts.
• Questioning and answering: This is the most basic and common method of assessment questions in the form of tests will be administered to Marcia to be able to determine her level of understanding according to the answers and explanations she gives on the tests.(Findik, 2015, p.610).
• Continuous assessment: This is very important as it is a way of providing a progressive measure of how the student is performing and developing the behaviors, values and attitudes that are expected of them. The student’s day-to-day performance is monitored, and the level of knowledge that they are expected to know at each level is tested.

Q5. If Marcia was not achieving the required standards, what actions would you take, and how would you appraise and provide feedback on Marcia’s development, taking into account your professional accountability and responsibility?

I should be vigilant and observant to ensure that Marcia performs according to the specified and required standards. If Marcia is failing, I should be able to detect it earlier to have time to bring other learning aids and materials in place to ensure that she has the help she requires(Frankel, 2009, p.87).

The lecture will be involved to help in planning better techniques to ensure that Marcia benefits fully and improves. I shall also interview other students and team members to be able to know how best to approach the student.

If Marcia is still failing after the techniques have been put in place, I will have to fail her in her grades, as it is my duty and responsibility to ensure that the NMC standards are met in due diligence as part of my professional accountability and responsibility and also have the records to support my decisions and actions that I take.

Giving feedback to the student is important to notify her of the progress she has made. There are five principles that can be used to give feedback,

• The mentor has the responsibility of setting attainable and realistic goals.
• Gauge how the student is expecting feedback(Gilispie,2009, p.970).
• Have information on the student’s practice.
• While giving feedback be specific on what the issues are.

Before approaching the student who is failing it is good to talk to other team members to ensure that you have correct information and also ensure that all information has been documented. Ensure that the student has had as much help as you can be able to provide before failing them. This will ensure that the student feels that the mentor has been just (Kolb, 1984, p.63).

The mentor is the person who is responsible for either passing or failing the student. Therefore, he or she must uphold integrity and ensure that the student is trained according to the requirements of NMC for placement. The grade that is awarded should reflect the student’s practice according to the stipulated standards when the student finds placement. Mentors are required to keep all records safely to justify the mentor’s decision on whether the student passed or failed.

When giving feedback to the student, which may be negative, ensure that you have dedicated all your time and attention to the student. Ensure that the student has performed a self-assessment and listens to the student’s opinion on the matter. Give the students the platform to explain and express themselves, and ensure when giving corrections, they are a point of learning. The mentor should always remember to be objective and specific as to what the issue is, and he or she should have supporting documents to act as evidence as to why he or she made the decision he did. Give the students all the details without holding back and inform them that other staff members may be involved and explain to the students what is expected from them. Also, encourage the student by giving them a development plan and an agreement on an action plan that they should take to better the student (Last, 2003, p.449).

References

ASTON, L. & HALLAM, P. (2014) Successful Mentoring in Nursing 2nd Edition. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

DREARY, I. J. WATSON, R. & HOGSTON, R. (2003) A longitudinal study of burnout and attrition in nursing students. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 43(1), pp.71-81

DUFFY, K. HARDICRE, J. (2007a) Supporting failing students in practice 2: Management. Nursing Times. 103(48), pp.28-29

DUFFY, K. HARDICRE, J. (2007b) Supporting failing students in practice 1: Assessment. Nursing Times. 103(47), pp.28-29

ELCOCK, K. & SHARPLES, K. (2011) A Nurses’ Survival Guide to Mentoring. London: Churchill Livingstone.

FINDIK, U. Y. (2015) Operating Room Nurses’ Burnout and Safety Applications. International Journal of Caring Sciences. 8(3), pp.610

FRANKEL, A. (2009) Nurses’ learning styles: promoting better integration of theory into

practice. Nursing Times; 105(2), pp.24-27.

GILLESPIE, B. M., CHABOYER, W., and WALLIS, M. (2009) The influence of personal characteristics on the resilience of operating room nurses: A predictor study. International Journal of Nursing Studies. 46(7), pp.968-976

KOLB, D. A. (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and

Development (vol. 1) New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

LAST, L. FULBROOK, P. (2003) Why do student Nurses leave? Suggestions from a Delphi Study. Nurse Education Today. 23(6), pp.449-458