Learning Skills for Personal & Professional Development - Essay Example

 Learning Skills For Personal & Professional Development Introduction  Acquisition of learning skills is very important when it comes to personal and professional development in the nursing curriculum and practice. Being able to comprehend, articulate, discuss, argue, evaluate, analyse, report, and put all the knowledge acquired into actual practice requires some skills to be applied throughout the learning process. There are various modules that have been put in place to help me develop some learning skills and in the process acquire knowledge that is essential in my professional and personal development which are necessary for this nursing practice. The main skills that I have figured out, which I have managed to acquire through my beginning of this nursing career have been: Time management- this is because I was initially poor at managing time and when it comes to planning for my assignments, something always came up which distracted me in the course and made me fail to meet the required deadlines. I realized that my research skills were highly affected since I could not research well and I was always up and down in a last minute rush to do my research and complete the necessary tasks (Ward, 2001, pp. 47-53) Internet skills for nurses. Nursing Standard 15 (21): 47-53. There are other areas that suffered seriously such as the quality of my work that I submitted after I rushed it up having poorly managed my time. This usually led to me getting poor grades. Managing time to ensure efficiency and effectiveness was my main problem; Correct use of referencing and in the process avoiding plagiarism is another learning skill that I have developed. This skill is well enhanced when I stick to my school’s chosen format for referencing, which is Harvard style. I learnt that in Harvard style, there are certain measures that should be taken once I have used someone’s work as part of my sources and thus whatever ideas that I have borrowed from any author to support my argument needs to be well referenced in Harvard. This style requires that one indicates the name of the author, year of which the work was published, and then be able to note the exact page numbers that such ideas, arguments, or models have been extracted. I learnt a lot about this referencing style including the format to cite various forms of sources such as documents from the websites, reports, interviews, and peer reviewed articles, among others. With strict adherence to this Harvard style of referencing or citation, the issue of plagiarism is taken care of since I recognize somebody’s work or contribution to a given theory or mode of thinking and avoid blatant theft of literary or intellectual property through rights violations, which is very criminal and should be shunned by all means; and finally, Numeracy skills for nursing- although I have not fully started the numeracy module for my nursing education, I am expecting to start soon as per the modules’ plan. However, I have started appreciating the importance of acquiring numerical skills in my nursing profession practice. I am therefore gearing up to tackle numeracy with full vigour once the module comes on the table. In the meantime, while I was at my placement for the feeding program, I realized that it was important for James to be monitored in terms of right dosage and at what intervals. This made me appreciate the value that numerical skills would have on my nursing professional practice and personal development. This paper is written in first person (Hamill, 1999, pp. 38-40) and will thus deal broadly with the above identified skills that I am in the process of refining. It will also reflect heavily on some modules such as NCFP 4004 which is the foundations for professional practice and NCFP 4005 called the problem based learning assessment. The reflective learning model that I have used is the Gibbs Reflective Cycle (Jasper, 2003, pp. 2-18), which will be well applied in the course of my discussion. The Learning Skills Time management skills These have helped me as a nursing student to better deal with and meet the demands that are presented with my practice. I realized that there is so much in place for me to do and I am also required to make various decisions, which most of the time will be critical, and thus managing my time well is very important and could help me prioritize immediately I get assigned a duty and help me meet the required deadline. Time management skills are basically about planning for my time to complete a certain task and ensure that all the time resource is spent accordingly in an effective and efficient manner. There is an increasing emphasis on delivery in healthcare and thus; how I manage my time as a nurse is very essential. To better manage my time, I had to come up with various strategies that I felt were good for my improvement and were in line with proven theories on time management. First of all, I started with planning my workday and eventually a whole week. Given the many demands of my studies and the attachment experience I had, I realized that it is important for me to always prioritize my tasks so that those requiring high attention are put first. I therefore had to come up with a to-do-list which I stuck to. I realized that this approach gave me a chance to transfer the tasks I have at hand from my mind to a piece of paper through jotting them down. Interestingly, I just ended up creating more space in my brain to work on some new things as I carry on with the tasks on paper. Secondly, I used the 80-20 rule which I now practice often. In this rule, I noticed that actually, 20% of the things I do all day and week matter most to my studies and nursing profession. I therefore give them priority and ample time to ensure that I meet their deadlines with quality output. The other 80% of the things are not so important such as attending to my hobbies and friends’ demands. Simply put, this strategy requires me to focus on my urgent and very important activities that need no interference. Thirdly, I had to reduce the interruptions in my studies and practice and tried managing them well so that they do not eat into my time. The forth strategy was me organizing myself and being able to put things in order at my workplace and study area, where possible in an orderly manner. This ensured that I did not have to keep going up and down for something when I needed it. Finally, I realised that applying my delegation skills could also help me save more on time and manage my time well. In this case, I made sure that the other things which could not affect my studies or profession when left to my friends and colleagues were delegated to them so that I had ample time and space to work on the demanding ones, which needed my full attention. Correct referencing and avoiding plagiarism There are general rules of referencing or citation that I have learnt as found on our intranet the ‘blackboard’ on the ‘skills at cumbria’, where such guidelines could be sought. These rules include using quotation marks in case I am to extract the exact words from my source that I have used and these quotes must be cited accordingly; in cases where I am to paraphrase an author’s argument, I realized that I have to ensure that I changed all the words used so that they appear to be fully mine and then at the end of the paragraph or when starting the paragraph I have to cite the source that I have taken it from and later reflect this on my list of references; and finally, if I had to choose any brief summary from any work authored by someone, I have to make sure that the words are actually mine but I should still be able to give credit or acknowledge the author to which these ideas are attributed to. The citation in Harvard takes into consideration both in text citation and list of references at the end of the work that I have written. As mentioned earlier, I learnt that Harvard style requires that the author’s name be noted in in text citation, the year in which the work was published and the page number should all appear either at the beginning of a paragraph or at the end whereby they three items are put in a bracket. Once work has been written, the Harvard style applies to how the list of references is arranged. My effective use of the sources I get information from simply depicts me as being up to date in relation to the information relevant to my topic of study and that I have put enough emphasis on the familiarity with the schools of thought applicable to my area of study or research topic (Ward, 2001, pp. 47-53). This skill has made me develop my own base and has been able to ensure that I strengthen my integrity or credibility and has also continued helping me in gaining a full command of the many research topics I am doing now and in future. Being ethically correct while using other people’s work and ideas has enabled me to give them full credit and treat them with the care needed and in the course of doing this, I avoid plagiarizing their work, a quite dishonest and poor practice in academics and professional development. This skill is thus important in my personal life and professional development in the nursing practice, which I am currently undertaking. Numeracy skills for nursing In my attachment period, I realized the importance of developing numeracy skills. This was observed when James was being administered to his medication. Any failure to adhere to and give the necessary dosage creates a very complicated situation and could lead to a patient’s demise. Even though we have not started learning the numeracy module, I have already created much interest in it since this is like the centre for medication to patients. If I have to prevent cases of deskilling and take into consideration the safety of patients, then I need to regularly practice these numerical skills when I will be taught and I will go a long way in the refreshing myself with the drug calculations through self-testing most of the time. I will make full use of the time set aside for the basic numerical practice and the drug calculations using my time management skills that I have acquired. I will also ensure that during my nursing placements, I carry out regular practice and assess my skill level in numeracy. From my understanding and the little research I have done on my own, just as part of my interest, I realized that the drug calculation errors are very serious problems in the healthcare provision and have even raised national concerns. I also learnt that 30-40& of the errors due to medication administration come about due to failure of the healthcare providers to carry out an accurate drug calculation (Tyreman, 2008, pp.1-10). Rationale for choosing these learning skills The reasons behind my choosing and developing the above skills for personal and professional development could be well presented by looking at the importance of acquiring and using these skills. Time management is very important because time itself is a very scarce resource. Each of us has the same number of hours, 24, in a day but still we complain of not having enough time. This equal distribution of time simply implies that if I can manage my time well, then I could be able to do practically anything I wanted in my life and professional practice. Skilful use of time will therefore; make the difference between my success and failure. Besides, time management skills helps me organize my work and myself through allocation of enough time to activities and thus I have no worry of not meeting my targets and deadlines. Better time management skills could also enhance my work output and ensure that I do not strain thus reducing chances of me developing stress or even depression. Correct referencing and avoiding plagiarism would ensure that I do not dent my image and practice respect for other people’s work. Caring about intellectual rights of other people does not only add on my credibility but it also ensures that I cultivate my own mode of thinking and come up with new ideas building upon what others have done. It is a skill that if well refined; it could see me through my academic life and even sharpen my professional skills. I have also come out strongly as a very ethically upright student and I would like to nurture this practice throughout my career life. Numeracy skills for nursing skills on the other hand would ensure that I do not miscalculate drug dosage when my times of administering medication to patients come. This skill would also ensure that I am a dependable nursing practitioner to my colleagues such as doctors and other nurses. This skill when I come to learn it well and develop it as expected, it will enable me build my integrity and help in winning trust from all patients including those who are sensitive to the medications being administered to them. Thoughts and feelings of my chosen learning skills Reflective model The reflective model that I chose for the development of my learning skills was the Gibbs Reflective Cycle. This model is very important because it helped me undertake the learning of my skills in a step by step basis (Jasper, 2003, pp. 2-18; Stephenson, 1993, pp.1-18). I had to describe the event which took consideration of the place that I was, the other people present, reasons for my being there, what I was doing, the things that other people around me were doing, the event’s context, the happenings at the place, the part that I played in this, that which other people did play, and the outcomes of these events. This is done at my nursing placement when I was attending to James. Here, I did acquire the time management skills and also had a chance to observe medication given to James, which elicited my interest in the numeracy skills in nursing. The next part of the model was the feelings, which majorly indicated the things that went on my head as I was doing this. When it came to reporting, I had to refer to sources for my writing and this is when I put my referencing to test where I managed to avoid plagiarising other people’s work. I felt I was doing a credible thing and also went further to improve on my time management skills. I did evaluate my skills and compared them to the situation before I had started practicing them, which is the third stage of Gibb’s Model. I then analysed the events basing my judgement on certain questions I asked myself. I also found out that my colleagues also did contribute a great deal to the development of my skills. I did make various conclusions as is needed by the Gibb’s model. I managed to develop an insight into my learnt skills and compared these to my colleagues. The final stage was the action plan where I thought of how I would carry myself out in case I encountered similar scenarios where am needed to apply time management skills, referencing, and numeracy skills (Howatson-Jones, 2010, pp.45-67; Jasper, 2003, pp. 2-18). Development of knowledge and understanding of the evidence base surrounding chosen learning skills In developing knowledge and understanding in my learning skills, I had to do various things that were very necessary as evidence for my acquisition of these learning skills. For example, when it comes to time management skills, I had to first identify the activities I felt were important and urgent. At the time of my placement, I realized that my main priority was feeding James on time and ensuring that he does not develop feeding disorders such as chocking. Managing my feeding program within time ensured that James appetite was catered for and that the feeding program did not interfere with the medication administration schedule. I thus made my own time management matrix during this program. I had to indicate points at which I would mark my milestones. I realized that this time management skill ensured that my productivity levels were high, for example, James did not develop any feeding complication during my placement session and my stress levels were on all-time low. I remember even when I left, I still got a call to get back and see if I could convince James to eat since he had got so attached to me during the practice. When it came to giving a report on my placement session, I had to refer to other sources for ideas to convince myself that I was on the right track in my studies and career. I therefore ensured that the sources were thorough and strict citation was done. This I did by citing the name, year of publication, and the page number I got such information. This approach helped me gain knowledge, understand and develop my referencing skills meant to avoid plagiarism in my academic endeavours. As I was attending to James at the feeding program, I came into contact with nursing practitioners who were attending to James for his medication. I learnt that drug calculations were very important in maintaining the health of a patient. This was gained from the way I saw nurses taking serious considerations when administering medication to James and other patients. It thus elicited the kind of interest I have in studying numeracy to further develop my skills when time comes (Peck & Coyle, 1999, pp.12-34). Conclusion  Learning skills are very important if I have to grow and develop both as a person and a professional nursing practitioner. There is actually no shortcut to this. The basic skills that I have so far developed well to the best of my abilities are the time management and referencing skills. As for the numeracy skills, I simply feel they are important and I hope that I should have fully acquired them once I study my module on numeracy. These skills will go a long way in helping me become productive and thus ensure that am both efficient and effective in my dealings and professional development. The Gibbs model is a very important and interesting reflective approach to learning and has been well applied in my learning skills. The main skill that I need to further develop in the near future is the numeracy skill. However, there are other skills that I need to develop such as healthcare provision to cross-cultural patients, and multi-discipline learning, critical thinking and writing skills (Price & Harrington, 2010, p.6) which I could practice by employing use of ‘pebble pad’ where my friends could review and critique my work through peer review, and tackling nursing examinations (Hendry & Farley, 2003, pp.48-53), among others so as to arm me with the necessary knowledge and be dynamic. The learning strategies that would help me develop these skills and others, are strict adherence to schedules, thorough group work, good and comprehensive research, seeking more placements, and regularly practicing the skills that I aim to develop. These I should be able to do by booking sessions with the learning information and student services (LISS), a one on one session with any of my lecturers to help me with the acquisition of academic skills, and view journals, books, and other documents online through the ‘quest’ system. List of References Hamill, C. (1999) Academic essay writing in the first person: a guide for undergraduates. Nursing Standard 13 (44): 38-40  Hendry, C. & Farley, A. (2003) Examinations: a practical guide for students. Nursing Standard 17 (29): 48-53  Howatson-Jones, L (2010) Reflective Practice in Nursing, Exeter: Learning Matters: 45-67 Jasper M (2003) Beginning Reflective Practice– Foundations in Nursing and Health Care, Nelson Thornes: Cheltenham: 2-18 Peck J, Coyle M. (1999) The Student’s Guide to Writing. Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling, Basingstoke: Macmillan: 12-34 Price, B., & Harrington, A. (2010) Critical Thinking and Writing for Nursing Students. Exeter: Learning Matters: 6 Stephenson (1993), In Reflective practice in nursing: the growth of the professional practitioner, ed. A.M. Palmer, S. Burns and C, Bulman 1994, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, UK and Boston, USA, pp.1-18 Tyreman, C. J. (2008) Testing Series: How to Master Nursing Calculations: Pass Numeracy Tests and Make Sense of Drug Dosage Charts: Kogan Page: 1-10 Ward, R. (2001) Internet skills for nurses, Nursing Standard 15 (21): 47-53  Read More