Critical Incidents in Teaching Sessions - Assignment Example

Critical Incidents in Teaching Sessions In my I work as practice development nurse. My main duty is to lecture nursing students and post registered nurses in clinical practice. My lessons do not entail providing basic nursing knowledge. I have developed the assumption that my students are well equipped with basic nursing skills such as patient diagnosis and offering injection. In addition, I rarely provide the opportunity to carry out practical. This hinders my effectiveness to understand the ability of the students to implement the content in my lectures. On one occasion, diabetes was the point of discussion. I noted most of my students could not effectively educate a diabetic patient on how to self-inject themselves. In theory, the process is well described but numerous students could not carry out the actual procedure. The incident can be described as critical since a nurse at this level should have knowledge on how to inject insulin. In addition, as a lecturer I felt that teaching skills were not effective enough to develop the practical skills of nurses. One may point out that, the modern day education system lacks the ability to equip students with basic professional skills (Callara 56). Success in theory provision in the classroom should be supplemented by an equal in significance provision of practical skills. Personal reflection After the incident, I sort to analyze the pattern of the problem in the class. 80% of the students pointed out that their practical skills were not good enough for a guaranteed admission in medical institutions. The pattern surprised me. The fulfilling part of the incident is that students were able to open up on their weaknesses on their lack of skills. However, it was less fulfilling to realize that students have a problem in theory application. From a personal reflection, I embraced the assumption that theory lessons were provided with much preference than practical lessons in the modern day classroom. The incident depicted that the assumption was accurate. In addition, the changes in the curriculum should be considered to increase the ability of students to apply theory learned in the classroom (Dewit 77). From the experience I learned that, students require tutoring in practical at the same intensity as lectures in theory. Occasionally, this is not the case. Tutors usually develop practical requirements for students to do as assignments and provide a report. The strategy does not provide students with the required skills regardless of that there are provided with theory directions (Dewit 112). The experiences also depicted a weakness in my teaching skills. As a lecturer, my sole focus in classroom activities was giving out notes and enabling theory applications. The strategy is only suitable to a few students while other students find it difficult to understand practical requirements of the class. However, the problem could only be addressed by the general curriculum or classroom program change. The alternative could not have been considered at the time. It was in the middle of the term. The option that was to be considered was to create more practical lessons. Problem reflection In an argument by Benner, Leonard & Day the modern day education system has minimized effectiveness in providing students with adequate professional skills (94). The authors further assert that the problem can be detected from the content of the curriculums (Benner, Leonard & Day 94). Specifically, students are provided with too much theory and less practical experiences. The trend has influenced the provision of poor workforce in the employment market. The problem is prevalent in most professional fields. However, the medicine field has suffered significantly as low-skilled graduates have dominated the current workforce. Dewit asserts that most nursing and medicine schools provide students with exceptional theory lessons but rarely supplemented with equal quality practical lessons (110). The trend can be evidenced by analyzing the success of professionals in the modern day corporate world. Cox, Lack & Hill is of the assumption that professional produced to the market rarely succeed in their field of expertise (4). This is caused by the lack of proper educational framework in colleges, universities and training institutions. Most organizations seek to retain their old and skilled employees. Callara asserts the guarantee of success of the modern day graduate is almost nil (67). The author further asserts that organizations have been required to develop extended internship and employee training programs (Callara 67). To minimize the cost incurred by the creation of these programs, managers have opted to retain or employ old and skilled employees. How to address the problem Benner, Leonard & Day are of the assumption that the problem could be easily addressed by changing the approaches when developing curriculums (67). Curriculums should be developed with the capacity to incorporate extensive practical training. In addition, practical lessons should be based on applications in the modern day professional environments. Chin points out that; most practical lessons are based on the default professional requirements that may not be applicable in the modern professional environment. (68) The trend minimizes the suitability of graduates to fit in the job market. The approach to teaching practices should also be reviewed. For instance, nursing tutor should be trained on how to effectively balance on their provision of theory and practical lessons. Additionally, they should be provided with the knowledge on how to develop assessment tests that test the suitability of students to complete practical tests. Chin asserts that assessment test will determine the effectiveness of students to relate theory and complete practical tasks (72). From the information provided, it is an accurate assumption that practical lessons have the same significance as theory lessons. In addition, practical lessons should be given a priority considering that they provide students with an actual picture on their requirements in their field of professional. From my classroom incident, the extent of the problem was evident. Moreover, the problem was rampant in numerous students as they cited lack of enough skills in the field on nursing. Success in theory provision in the classroom should be supplemented by an equal in significance provision of practical skills. Works Cited Benner, Patricia., Leonard, Victoria. & Day, Daisy. Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation. New York: Wiley and Sons. 2009. Print. Callara, Leana. Nursing Education Challenges in the 21st Century. Nova Publishers. 2008. Print. Chin, Peggy. Integrated theory and knowledge development in nursing. St. Louis: Mosby. 2008. Print. Cox, Carol., Lack, Victoria. & Hill, Marie. Advanced Practice in Healthcare: Skills for Nurses and Allied Health Professionals. London: Routledge. 2013. Print. Dewit, Susan. Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation. Missouri: Elsevier. 2009. Print. Read More