Leaning Ability and Factors Affecting In Nursing Education

Factors Affecting Learning Abilities of Teacher, Student  and Patient

Factors Affecting the Ability to Learn,Responsibilities of Nursing and Health Educators.

Factors Affecting the Ability to Learn

    The following obstacles (FIGURE 1-3) may interfere with a learner's ability to attend to and process information (Beagley, 2011; Billings & Kowalski, 2004; Glanville, 2000; Kessels, 2003; McDon ald , Wiczorek , & Walker , 2004; Weiss, 2003):

1. Lack of time to learn as a result of rapid patient discharge from care and the amount of information a client is expected to learn can discourage and frustrate the learner, impeding his or her ability and willingness to learn.

2. The stress of acute and chronic illness, anxiety, and sensory deficits in patients are just a few problems that can diminish learner motivation and interfere with the process of learning. However, illness alone rarely acts as an impediment to learning. Rather, illness is often the impetus for patients to attend to learning, contact healthcare professionals, and take positive action to improve their health status.

3. Low literacy and functional health illiteracy have been found to be significant factors in the ability of clients to make use of the written and verbal instructions given to them by providers. Almost half of the American population reads and comprehends at or below the eighth-grade level, and an even higher percentage suffers from health illiteracy.

4. The negative influence of the hospital environment itself, which results in loss of control, lack of privacy, and social isolation, can interfere with a patient's active role in health decision making and involvement in the teaching-learning process.

5. Personal characteristics of the learner have greater effects on the degree to which behavioral out- comes are achieved. Readiness to learn, motivation and compliance, developmental-stage characteristics, and learning styles are some of the prime factors influencing the success of educational endeavors.

6. The extent of behavioral changes needed, both in number and in complexity, can overwhelm learners and dissuade them from attending to and achieving learning objectives and goals.

7. Lack of support and lack of ongoing positive reinforcement from the nurse and significant others serve to block the potential for learning.

8. Denial of learning needs, resentment of authority, and lack of willingness to take responsibility (locus of control) are some psychological obstacles to achieving behavioral change.

9. The inconvenience, complexity, inaccessibility, fragmentation, and dehumanization of the healthcare system often result in frustration and abandonment of efforts by the learner to participate in and comply with the goals and objectives for learning.

Responsibilities of Nursing and Health Educators

    To maximize the effectiveness of patient, staff, and student education, the nurse must examine the elements of the education process and the role of the nurse as educator. Many questions arise related to the principles of teaching and learning, especially given the pressures to contain costs and to improve learner outcomes. The following are some of the important questions that this text addresses:

    How can members of the healthcare team work together more effectively to coordinate educational efforts?

    What are the ethical, legal, and economic issues involved in patient and staff education? Which theories and principles support the education process, and how can they be applied to change the behaviors of learners?

    Which assessment methods and tools can nurse educators use to determine learning needs, readiness to learn, and learning styles? Which learner attributes negatively and positively affect an individual's ability and willingness to learn? What can be done about the inequities (in quantity and quality) in the delivery of education services?

    How can teaching be tailored to meet the needs of specific populations of learners, such as those with diverse cultural backgrounds, low literacy skills, physical and mental disabilities, and different socioeconomic and educational levels?

    To what extent does teaching improve health status and reduce the costs of health care? Which instructional methods and materials are available to support teaching efforts? Which elements must the nurse as educator account for when developing and implementing teaching plans?

    Under which conditions should nurses use certain teaching methods and materials? What common mistakes do nurses make when teaching others? How can teaching and learning be best evaluated?