Nurse life-long learning

Nurse life-long learning

Within my profession, it is essential that nurses and nurse assistants learn about the importance of pursuing evidence-based medicine. This requires that nurses progressively improve their knowledge of their discipline through research and learning from the work of others. This is called life-long learning. After learning, nurses need to transfer this information to other nurses who may need it as well as patients who will use the information to make better clinical decisions (Hamric et al., 2014). In this essay, I will discuss how the information sheet and brochure attached below will be used in my practice area.

Summary of Information Sheet

Information sheets are a great way to distribute data on health issues (Oberg, 2018). The information sheet has been developed with the primary audience being nurse leaders and nurses in charge of nursing units. These nurses are often involved in the management of nurses in their group and ensuring that the unit offers patients the best quality of care available. The information sheet introduces the importance of lifelong learning for nurses and how it affects the practice of nursing. The main topic is identified as evidence-based practice and the subtopic as lifelong learning and advocacy. The information sheet also identifies the main points that are important: the fact that nursing information is continually changing, that lifelong learning is vital to the nurse, and that the nurse has to use the information obtained to provide patient-centred care. In the first paragraph, the fact that nursing information changes rapidly is laid out. The sources of information, like journals and nursing books, are defined. The next argument is that the nurse has to attend school to their highest abilities for certification and then learn more about their profession through practice and constant reading. The last topic identifies the importance of sharing knowledge among peers and ensuring that it is used in the provision of better care to patients.

Summary of Brochure

The brochure was developed for the wider nursing audience in the institution. It will be made available by printing many copies and distributing them to nurses around the facility. Copies will also be posted on the various notice boards in the institution. The brochure has a sidebar that indicates the presenter and the main points covered inside. It is developed with a mixture of reassuring colours and graphics that are attractive to the reader. The content is also presented in bold words that a reader can easily view without having to strain. The content, however, has fewer words when compared to the information sheet. This is because, for the brochure, brevity is essential in delivering the point without taking too much of the reader’s time. The brochure can be handed out in print format as has been described above. It can also be shared in its digital form to individuals who are not able to access it physically or who may be in a different geographical location. The main image in the brochure is in the dark background and has the acronym KEY. This grabs attention and makes the reader wants to know more about what is key. The acronym is then explained as Keep Educating Yourself, which is the message about lifelong learning.

How they will be used in my career

The information sheet will be used to promote the importance of lifelong learning to especially nurse managers and the head of nursing within the institution I work. The leaders of various units will be given the information sheet to educate them about the importance of lifelong learning for nurses in their group. I will then plan a session to ensure that the nurse leaders understand that they are essential to promoting lifelong learning and encouraging nurses they supervise to educate themselves continuously. I can then assist the nurse leaders in coming up with a strategy to improve evidence-based practise in their unit by promoting learning.

The brochures will be handed out to the nurses within the institution to enhance their understanding of lifelong learning, and why they should practice educating patients about medical issues that affect them (Kennedy-Stewart, 2016). The brochures are easier to understand, and since they have graphics, they are attractive to look at and appealing to read. They are also well summarized and can be produced in bulk for all the nurses in the institution. I will also spread the brochure within my nursing groups and online to encourage more nurses to practise lifelong learning.

Proposed improvements

The information sheet is a bit technical and can be simplified so that it is understood by all professionals, including nurse assistants. As it is now, it is a bit complex which reduces its importance for new nurses and nurses assistants. The information sheet can also include a section for references to ensure that the information contained in there can be verified by any nurse who accesses the work. This is also in accordance with lifelong learning, where the nurse requires establishing several reliable sources rather than just relying on one source.

The brochure can include more graphics to make it even more appealing to look at. However, this should not be done at the expense of passing the message to the audience. The brochure can also be made into two pages to offer more space for illustrations. Lastly, the brochure can be made in other colours to enhance its visual attractiveness.

Better ways to convey the information

The information in the sheet and brochure can be communicated very effectively during nursing seminars and workshops. These events are often scheduled once a year by various professional organizations and academic authorities and bring together a wide range of nurses from different geographical locations. Presenting the information at a nursing conference will enable it to spread to a very diverse audience that is involved in educating others around them. This means that the geographically diverse audience will spread the information faster, leading to an improvement in care provision.

I would also pass the information online, for example, using a video or presentation. The video can be posted on online sharing sites like YouTube and distributed to nursing groups that I am involved in. Using my connections to other nurses, I can encourage more people to spread the information reaching an even wider audience and enhancing adoption of lifelong learning and evidence-based practice by many healthcare providers.

Information Sheet

Introduction

Healthcare workers are constantly making decisions that affect the welfare of patients under their care. Nurses, physicians, and other professionals involved in providing direct patient care are therefore required to keep up to date with the current procedures and medication. This calls on the nurse to continually study their discipline as long as they proved care and ensure that they can use the knowledge to provide evidence-based care to their patients. Lifelong learning and patient advocacy are important attributes that I will pursue as a nurse to improve the quality of care I provide.

Broad Topic

Evidence-based medicine

Narrow Topic

Nurse life-long learning and advocacy

Points developed

• Nursing is often changing due to new research and better ways to cater for diverse patients
• The nurse has to make it a priority to pursue life-long learning
• Lifelong learning has to be coupled with patient advocacy to enhance the provision of quality patient-centred care.

Topic Support

New clinical evidence is often coming up every day that enhances the ability of nurses to provide better care to their clients. Such evidence is often presented as research published in various credible sources. There is a need to explore such sources of evidence regularly to ensure that the nurse is providing care according to the latest evidence.

Transition

Consider how pursuing lifelong learning can promote evidence-based practice.

Topic Support

Lifelong learning involves dedication from the nurse to pursue professional education to the highest level they can. After being certified and accredited, the nurse should then ensure that they learn about advances in the area they provide care by exploring relevant research on their work.

Conclusion

Lifelong learning enables the nurse to become a leader in the field and enhance the quality of care patients receive in their station.

Transition

Nurses, therefore, need to pursue education opportunities and collaborate with others to review current evidence in their profession.

Topic Support

While pursuing lifelong learning, the nurse should also ensure that the knowledge they use is learnt by other nurses and used in patient education. By educating other nurses, the whole nursing unit and nursing practice benefits, leading to better clinical outcomes and more clients for the institution. Since the patient is also satisfied by the quality of care that the nurse provides to them, they rate the institution better and are likely to recommend more customers to the institution.

Conclusion

This way, lifelong learning can lead to patient satisfaction as well as nurse and patient advocacy that improve the quality of patient care.

Summary

Since nursing is often changing due to new evidence, it is the responsibility of the nurse to their patient to ensure that they have current information that can be shared with the patient to assist in shared decision-making. This allows nurses to provide patient-centred care to all their patients.