Nurse education theory and practice frameworks

Nurse Educational Theory

How to Make a Bed

Modes of representation represent a person's ability to acquire knowledge through their perception of events, their ability to attain a concept and solution of a problem and master a skill. To teach a patient how to make a bed for example, a nurse would first have to allow the student to form a "tentative hypothesis" about how the act needed to be accomplished and then test that hypothesis against information learned during the teaching process. This may involve allowing the student to attempt to make a bed first and find out what difficulties lie ahead, what is easy to do and what is not as easy. This should occur before the nurse actually demonstrates how a bed is made, as it allows the student to actively rather than passively learn information. Students tend to make an intuitive leap regarding how something needs to be done and then may confirm or disprove this notion based on experiences (Shermis & Bigge, 149). There are many non-verbalized processes included in learning including ideas students may have regarding the way something need be done. Instruction should include techniques that enable students to solve a problem.

A nurse using the modes of representation may suggest to a student methods of correcting inefficiencies when fixing a bed so students can re-adapt their initial theories regarding how the bed should be made. A student becomes an active learner during this process making changes in their perceptions and learning through a process of inference but also environment stimulation.

Part 2: Bruners' Concepts of Education

Bruner focuses on cognitive interactionist learning, which focuses on the way cultural and narrative life experiences may impact learning. One of his major concepts is that students actively learn through cultural and narrative life processes. His studies suggest that through story telling and active participation student can better learn in an educational setting. From an adult educational perspective Bruner's theories can be applied equally well to adults and children. His theories suggests that adult learners will take to the classroom best when allowed to handle objects and situations and perform tasks that not only take advantage of and enhance their own skill sets but also enable them to relate technologies to learning so they can best express themselves. Learning that is goal directed is more likely to succeed than passive learning skills. Bruner also emphasizes the importance of culture and self in learning, suggesting that both impact a students learning process. Students according to Bruner are "transactional self's" which is a construction of both ones cultural history and experiences (Shermis & Bigge, 136). When students can frame content they are best able to adapt it to their own experiences and make sense of it. Bruner's main points suggest that adult learning is an active process and that adult learners actively "construct" knowledge by "relating incoming information to a previously acquired psychological frame of reference" (Shermis & Bigge, 136).

Part 3:

Bandura's social cognitive learning theory helps provide a psychological basis for learning and teaching. His theory emphasizes the importance of interaction between individuals in meaningful relationships as essential to the learning process. The cognitive interactinoist view proposed by Bandura confirms that individuals are 'purposive beings who exercise situational choice" (Shermis & Bigge, 155). This means that people do the best they can in any given situation to promote the best self and may use life experiences to choose the outcome in a complex decision making process. Interaction based on this theory is purposive, meaning that individuals are not passive learners. People learn based on interactionist between a persons environment and their experiences which "give meaning to that environment" so they can decide how best to make decisions that will ultimately be advantageous to them (Shermis & Bigge, 155). Through interactions and daily events learners may gain new insights that result in decision-making changes. People's behaviors are a function in part of the environment and those with which they interact according to Bandura. How do these relate to Benner's levels of nurse functioning? The most relevant concepts of Benner's theory suggest that learning is gained depending on the experience levels in part of a nurse. Nurses in a novice state for example tend to view situations "in terms of objective, quantifiable patters" and rarely tend to take into account the context or environment they are working in. This is not a social cognitive interactionist form of functioning as Bandura describes it. However, as nurses advance in their functioning, such as during the advanced beginner stages, they begin to recognize situational influences within a given environment, thus may start changing their functioning or thought processes based on the situation at hand. Once nurses reach competence and proficiency functioning they are better able to become active learners and function in a social cognitive interactionist role, where they take cues from their environment and situation and make decisions based on what is most advantageous both for themselves and their patients in a given situation. Social cognitive interactionist ability is at its peak during the expert level when nurses have the ability to trust their perceptions and decide on specific interactions based not only on experience but the situation presented them. Benner's levels of nurse functioning are very beneficial in explaining the social cognitive learning process Bandura supports. They clearly outline how one moves from a state of more passive functioning to an active one.