Reflective Essay on Mentorship in Student Nursing

Reflective Essay on Mentorship in Student Nursing This piece of work will examine the process of assessment within my role as a mentor for a student nurse. The assignment will follow the sequence of events from initial contact of the student to the final interview and completion of documentation. It will also analyse the action plans that were written at the initial and interim interviews. To protect the identity of the student, I have used the name Jane in keeping with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (2008a) guidance on confidentiality. Jane is a second year student and this placement will be her first community placement of the year. For the purpose of this assignment, I will use a reflective approach. The literature shows that authors such as Schon (1995) and Benner (1984) concentrated on the role of reflection in the work of health care professionals however, Brookfield (1995) explored different sources of information and feedback that are available to teachers. Brookfield uses the term â€Å"critically reflective lenses† through which professionals can view their teaching. Reflection can improve the way we teach and the way we learn from experiences. Kolb (1984) suggests that reflection is the way in which we examine our experiences and draw lessons from them which is supported by Cornforth (2009) who describes the purpose of reflection to be to scr utinise an incident to see what, if anything, could be done differently after looking back and analysing what happened. I work within a small GP surgery in Lincolnshire. Jane and I had not had contact prior to her arrival at the placement but this had been arranged via the practice learning facilitator. I greeted Jane warmly and introduced myself. I gave Jane an induction pack to provide her with information regarding the surgery including expected fire alarm testing, emergency equipment and where she could eat. The use of induction and learning packs have been found to be an invaluable resource when used effectively for both learner and mentor (Moore, 2013). Using Egan’s (2002) SOLER model of communication skills, Jane and I had a discussion around ground rules, expectations of each other and the learning environment. SOLER is a model of non-verbal communication techniques that aids demonstration of active listening which is why I chose this model. It involves positioning and body language and advises you to learn forwards towards the other person, however I did not learn towards Jane as I fel t she may find this threatening. We continued by discussing Jane’s learning needs including meeting her learning outcomes and her previous life and work experience. Maslow’s (1987) theory of a hierarchy of human needs suggests that our physiological needs take highest priority followed by safety and the need for belongingness. I wanted to make Jane feel welcome and to encourage her to develop her skills, knowledge and attitude. The NMC (2008) standards for mentors involve eight domains and declare that for learning to be effective, students should spend at least forty percent of their placement time with their mentor. Furthermore, the NMC (2008b) identified the need for protected time for mentoring. Jane and I briefly discussed how we would allocate our time together before I introduced her to other members of the surgery team. A study by Newton, Billett and Ockerby (2009) identified that a supportive social and cultural arena that enables the student to become part of the clinical team is very important. I therefore felt that for Jane to feel welcome, she needed to know who everyone was and their role within the team. I understood that it was important to create a positive learning environment for Jane. In an early, landmark study, Fretwell (1980) identified that key components of the â€Å"ideal learning environment† as anti-hierarchy, teamwork, negotiation, communication and availability of traine d nurses for responding to students’ questions. Peer support is essential to this to allow Jane to spend time with other members of the health care team. Jane and I agreed a time to conduct the initial interview at this point. There are various definitions of what learning means, written throughout the ages by philosophers and educational psychologists. Gopee (2011) writes that learning is a process that leads to modification in behaviour or the acquisition of new abilities or responses, and which is additional to natural development, growth or maturation. A literature search revealed different learning styles and I recognised that it is important to be flexible in the different learning approaches I provide. As a teacher, I must understand that learning styles change depending on the task being taught and how the student responds to the learning experience. Most students have elements of more than one learning style present. It may be useful for students to think about their strongest and weakest style to enable the teacher to develop strategies to capitalise on strengths. Bloom (1956) talks about three domains of learning. Cognitive is about mental skills and knowledge and affective is about growth in feelings or emotional areas and attitudes. Psychomotor is about manual or physical skills. Honey and Mumford (1982) developed learning styles and they identified four different styles, or preferences. Activist, Theorist; Pragmatist and Reflector. These are the learning approaches that individuals naturally prefer and they developed a learning style questionnaire to enable people to analyze and evaluate their own particular learning styles. Prior to the initial interview, I had asked Jane’s to complete the Honey and Mumford learning style questionnaire. The initial interview took place early in the first week of placement in a private room with Jane, myself and my mentor. I closed the door and put my telephone over to â€Å"do not disturb† so that there would be no interruptions. The learning style questionnaire was reviewed and this had identified Jane as being an activist with reflective tendencies. Jane also agreed that she preferred to be â€Å"hands on† as identified by the psychomotor element of Bloom. For this reason, we agreed that Jane may learn more by practical sessions reinforced by using question and answer sessions. Jane was encouraged to approach clinical staff for advice in any areas that she felt she did not fully understand. It was identified following discussion that Jane did not have any specific learning difficulties or needs. We spent time looking through the continuous assessment of practice (CAP) document and the competency framework to identify the learning outcomes that Jane needed to meet and at what academic level she should be working towards. As Jane was a second year student, the learning outcomes related more to applying theory to practice and therefore I needed to devise teaching sessions towards that level. We focused on the action plan from her previous placement in order to develop an action plan for this placement taking into account her learning outcomes. Referring back to the NMC (2008b) guidelines on standards to support learning and assessment in practice, Jane and I agreed the time she would spend with me and with other health care professionals to broaden the learning opportunities of her placement. I devised a SMART action plan for Jane creating some learning objectives for her to meet by the interim interview (see appendix 1). This means that objectives should be Specific, Measureab le, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. A date was arranged for the interim interview mid placement. In order to fulfil my role as mentor to Jane, I understood that I would be acting as a role model as identified in the NMC (2008b) guidelines to support learning in practice. The mentor should not only be a role model for clinical skills but also as an organiser of care, a researcher and a teacher within their post (Gopee, 2011). The mentor must act professionally at all times. Donaldson and Carter’s (2005) report on an evaluation of the perceptions of undergraduate students on role modelling within the clinical settings, identified that students ranked highly the importance of good role models whose competence they could observe and practice. I was aware that I would need to demonstrate leadership skills throughout my journey as a mentor. Sullivan and Decker (2009) state that a leader is anyone who uses interpersonal skills to influence others to accomplish a goal. Mullins (2007) reaches a similar conclusion by referring to leadership as a relationship through which on person influences the behaviour or actions of others. Under the leadership domain of the NMC (2008b) guidance, it is indicated that mentors should demonstrate leadership skills for education within practice and academic settings. In order to do this, I understood that I would need to plan a structured teaching session but allow some flexibility in case of unpredicted events such as emergencies leading to deterioration of a patient’s condition. On reflection of Jane’s preferred learning style, she had indicated that she preferred a â€Å"hands on† approach however, I appreciated that this was not always possible particularly if it was a new experience. I contemplated that Jane may need to observe practical procedures initially before attempting the procedure herself and that different teaching methods may need to be used to support the theoretical component. I planned a series of learning experiences in order to meet the defined learning outcomes as planned during the initial interview and my intention was to prioritise my work in order to meet Jane’s learning requirements. My role as a mentor was to act as an advocate for Jane in order for her to access learning opportunities involving others, a role model, a teacher/facilitator, and a manager of change. Price and Price (2009) support the argument that mentors act as role models for enabling students to learn safe and effective practice. As a healthcare professional, I am accountable for delivering care competently (NMC, 2008a) but also for enabling learners to develop their clinical skills (NMC, 2008b). As a mentor, my accountability relates to the rules, policies, regulations and scope of practice that govern assessments (NMC, 2010). It also relates to the assessment of professional competence, to personal and professional responsibilities and to legislation. This may mean failing a student against some competencies within the CAP document, this could be because of various reasons leading to the student not progressing to the required standard. Work by Duffy (2003) identified that some mentors fail to fail a student despite being accountable. This is supported in a paper by Gainsbury (2010). There may be various reasons for this including pressure from the student, lateness or sickness and failure to make up missed hours. I understood that if I felt Jane was failing to meet the standard required, I would work withi n the guidelines of my professional body as I would remain accountable for passing a failing student and would therefore not be pressured into doing this. During my teaching sessions I remained aware of facilitating the use of evidence based practice (EBP), this is practice based on underpinning research and evidence, clinical knowledge and cost. Using EBP is a component in the NMC (2008b) competencies for mentors and its use supports effective care, clinical effectiveness and practice development and aims to improve the standards and quality of healthcare delivery. Example of EBP are clinical guidelines such as those produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), National Service Frameworks (NSF) and strategies such as the cancer strategy (National Health Service (NHS), 2014), and both local and national policies and pathways. The assessment process compromises of measuring the student’s progress and encompasses knowledge, skills and attitude. Assessment is performed to protect patient safety, competence and fitness to practice. During the assessment process it was important to consider the competency framework (Steinaker and Bell, 1979) which is commonly used in nurse education curricula and at what level I should expect Jane to be performing towards in her second year of training. The learning competencies are clearly identified in the CAP document and I would be assessing Jane against these competencies. Continuous assessment can be used to measure consistency, it allows for progression, improvement and development and permits assessment in different areas or scenarios. The criteria for assessment proclaimed by Quinn and Hughes (2007) is that assessment is valid, reliable, not discriminatory, practical and transparent. This process should allow for fairness of assessment of the individual on particular competencies. Factors that could affect assessment in the clinical environment making them unfair include interruptions, lack of resources such as equipment and suitability of placement (Gopee, 2011). The assessment process took place at agreed times and I attempted to create a climate that allowed Jane to perform to the best of her ability nevertheless considering the safety of the patient and I was prepared to intervene or provide prompts if necessary. Gopee (2011) believes that assessment of a student involves gathering information of the students ability to perform particular skills or competencies. Performance is measured against standards set by governing bodies. Following assessment, I provided Jane with feedback on her performance. I was mindful of remaining constructive rather than destructive, objective, clear, concise and specific about elements of the assessment. I remained aware that feedback needed to be a two way process to enable Jane to learn and improve and allow for time to discuss concerns and ask for clarification where needed. Wilkes, Joyce and Edmond (2011) believe that constructive feedback can inspire and encourage students and therefore enhance their understanding. Feedback helps learners to recognise weaknesses and identify areas for improvement and for the mentor to recognise learning, consolidation and linking theory to practice (British Journal of Hospital Medicine (BJHM) 2009). Hill (2007) supports the idea that feedback plays an important role in the learning cycle in the link between the theoretical and practical elements of competencies. During the interim interview, which took place midway through placement, Jane and I had a discussion around her development, achievement of learning outcomes, strengths and weaknesses. We revisited the action plan from the initial interview to establish whether these had been appropriate and achievable. Gopee (2011) states that mid-placement interview is an important component in the assessment of the students’ progress. Jane self-assessed and reflected on her progress. I undertook a formative assessment of Jane’s competence and skills and we discussed and agreed a further SMART action plan (see appendix 2) incorporating any further learning opportunities required. We completed the documentation required in Jane’s CAP document, supporting the NMC (2009) guidance on record keeping. Before ending the interview, we agreed a time and date for her final interview towards the end of her placement. I continued to provide learning opportunities either with myself or with other professionals in order to meet the competencies identified in Jane’s CAP document and in her SMART action plan. Relating back to Bloom’s (1956) domains of learning, this allowed for further development of skills (psychomotor), knowledge and understanding (cognitive) and attitude (affective) and attributed to an increase of confidence in skills that were performed frequently. Student number 478825Module number 92938

Bertrand Russell on Critical Thinking :: Critical Thinking Essays

Bertrand Russell on Critical Thinking The ideal of critical thinking is a central one in Russell's philosophy, though this is not yet generally recognized in the literature on critical thinking. For Russell, the ideal is embedded in the fabric of philosophy, science, liberalism and rationality, and this paper reconstructs Russell's account, which is scattered throughout numerous papers and books. It appears that he has developed a rich conception, involving a complex set of skills, dispositions and attitudes, which together delineate a virtue which has both intellectual and moral aspects. It is a view which is rooted in Russell's epistemological conviction that knowledge is difficult but not impossible to attain, and in his ethical conviction that freedom and independence in inquiry are vital. Russell's account anticipates many of the insights to be found in the recent critical thinking literature, and his views on critical thinking are of enormous importance in understanding the nature of educational aims. Moreover, it is argued that Russell manages to avoid many of the objections which have been raised against recent accounts. With respect to impartiality, thinking for oneself, the importance of feelings and relational skills, the connection with action, and the problem of generalizability, Russell shows a deep understanding of problems and issues which have been at the forefront of recent debate. The ideal of critical thinking is a central one in Russell's philosophy, though this is not yet generally recognized. Russell's name seldom appears in the immense literature on critical thinking which has emerged in philosophy of education over the past twenty years. Few commentators have noticed the importance of Russell's work in connection with any theory of education which includes a critical component. Chomsky, for example, reminds us of Russell's humanistic conception of education, which views the student as an independent person whose development is threatened by indoctrination. Woodhouse, also appealing to the concept of growth, points out Russell's concern to protect the child's freedom to exercise individual judgment on intellectual and moral questions. Stander discusses Russell's claim that schooling all too often encourages the herd mentality, with its fanaticism and bigotry, failing to develop what Russell calls a "critical habit of mind". (1) The threat of indoctrinatio n, the importance of individual judgment, and the prevalence of fanatical opinions all point up the need for what nowadays is called critical thinking; and Russell's work is valuable to anyone who wants to understand what this kind of thinking entails and why it matters in education.

Conflict Negotiation Scenario

?Running head: CONFLICT NEGOTIATION SCENARIO Conflict Negotiation Scenario University of Phoenix HCS587 Conflict Negotiation Scenario TradeStation Securities is an online brokerage company where I was employed as the Client Service Director in charge of the Florida and Chicago Client Service Associates which, totaled 90 employees. Due to the strict rules and regulations of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) any employee handling brokerage accounts for customers must have their securities license known as the Series 7. When I was hired in January 2008, my contract included that within the first year of employment I needed to study and obtain this license. I also was in charge of ensuring that each employee within the Client Service Department obtained their licenses as well. My department was extremely unorganized and there were no procedures in place for the employees. My first task was to create a flow chart of the Client Service procedures and how they were linked to providing excellent customer service. I linked the procedures and showed how the procedures were linked to other departments of the company. I presented my chart at the first weekly management meeting and received approval from all department managers that were involved. Everything was going as planned until a scandal between the sales department and a client changed everything. The President of my department was also the President of the Sales Department as well and due to the issue with the sales department he was asked to resign. The Vice President of the company took over both departments until a replacement was found. I met with the Vice President and discussed with him the plan I created and how the implementation was progressing. He was concerned that I was hired without my licenses and expressed to me the importance of obtaining them. I discussed with him my contract and explained to him that I was about two weeks away from being prepared to take the exam. My motivation to succeed was noticeable and at that time I felt he knew that I was dedicated to making my department successful which would be shown by the customer service provided to our clients. I started to notice that I was not being included in important management meetings. I made an appointment to speak with the Vice President to discuss my concerns and the reasons for not being included. At that time, he explained that he was placing another director within the company as director of my department. He explained that I should not have been hired since I didn't not have my securities license and stated that this individual was going to assist me with running the department until I passed the exam. I was taken back because he never discussed this with me previously and I felt that he was attempting to push me out of the department and the company. His behavior demonstrated towards me was unprofessional and came across as cold. My employees noticed that something was transpiring and continued to ask me if something was going. I met with each employee and communicated that change would always occur but the changes were going to be effective and they needed to continue to excel in their position. I started to notice that my employees started to slip with their performance because of the negative communication that was occurring throughout the department. I decided to escalate the issue to the President of the Company. The President was well aware of my employment with his company as well as the action plan I created for my department. He was empathetic of the situation and decided to have a meeting with the Vice President and myself. I knew at this point the Vice President was going to be extremely upset because I went above his head on the situation. After a two hour meeting, the situation was under control and I felt at ease knowing that I had the President of the company agreeing with my employment and the positive changes I have made and continued to make daily with the department. I knew the Vice President was upset so I decided to give him a week to digest the situation and I made an appointment to speak with him. I expressed my loyalty to him and the company and went over my plans again ith him and asked him for his thoughts on the changes I wanted to make. I took the â€Å"team† approach when speaking with him to try and get him to see that I wanted to improve the department which would improve the overall customer satisfaction and the success of the company. He expressed his determination to continue to make the changes that he first discussed with me that didn't include me in the picture. I told him I was unfortunate to hear that he was not going to be a team player and that I expressed that I was going to continue the work that I was hired for. At that time, he also expressed that he would continue to work towards his plan. Over the next couple of weeks, I continued to make the improvements with the policies and procedures in the department even though a new director had been placed in my department. I felt like I was in a battle and saw that the employees were being affected as well as my clients due to the confusion. I asked for another meeting but this time not only with the President and Vice President. I also included the board members, the HR department manager and the legal counsel for the company. During the meeting I started from the beginning walking all of them through the timeline and the flow chart and the disruptions that had been preventing the success. All the board members, the President, the legal counsel and the HR Manager agreed that I was on the right path. The final decision was for me to continue handling my department and my department would be overseen by the President instead of the Vice President of the company. A month later, the Vice President resigned from the company because his future for the company was not aligned with the President and Board Members path.

The Discovery of Fire in the Early Stone Age

The discovery of fire, or, more precisely, the controlled use of fire, was one of mankinds first great innovations. Fire allows us to produce light and heat, to cook plants and animals, to clear forests for planting, to heat-treat stone for making stone tools, to keep predator animals away, and to burn clay for ceramic objects. It has social purposes as well. Fires serve as gathering places, as beacons for those away from camp, and as spaces for special activities. The Progress of Fire Control The human control of fire likely required the cognitive ability to conceptualize the idea of fire, which itself has been recognized in chimpanzees; great apes have been known to prefer their foods cooked. The fact that experimentation with fire occurred during the early days of humanity should come as no surprise. Archaeologist J.A.J. Gowlett offers this general outline for the development of fire use:  opportunistic use of fire from natural occurrences (lightning strikes, meteor impacts, etc);  limited conservation of fires lit by natural occurrences; use of animal dung or other slow-burning substances to maintain fires in wet or cold seasons; and finally,  kindled fire. Early Evidence The controlled use of fire was likely an invention of our ancestor Homo erectus during the Early Stone Age (or Lower Paleolithic). The earliest evidence of fire associated with humans  comes from Oldowan hominid sites in the Lake Turkana region of Kenya. The site of Koobi Fora contained oxidized patches of earth to a depth of several centimeters, which some scholars interpret as evidence of fire control. The Australopithecine site of Chesowanja in central Kenya (about 1.4 million years old) also contained burned clay clasts  in small areas. Other Lower Paleolithic sites in Africa that contain possible evidence of fire include Gadeb in Ethiopia (burned rock), and Swartkrans (burned bones) and Wonderwerk Cave (burned ash and bone fragments), both in South Africa. The earliest evidence for controlled use of fire outside of Africa is at the Lower Paleolithic site of Gesher Benot Yaaqov in Israel, where charred wood and seeds were recovered from a site dated 790,000 years old. Other evidence has been found at Zhoukoudian, a Lower Paleolithic site in China, Beeches Pit in the U.K., and Qesem Cave in Israel. An Ongoing Discussion Archaeologists examined the available data for European sites and concluded that habitual use of fire wasnt part of the suite of human behaviors until about 300,000 to 400,000 years ago. They believe that the earlier sites are representative of the  opportunistic use of natural fires. Terrence Twomey published a comprehensive discussion of the early evidence for the  human control of fire at 400,000 to 800,000 years ago. Twomey believes that there is no direct evidence for domestic fires between 400,000 and 700,000 years ago, but he believes that other, indirect evidence supports the notion of the controlled use of fire. Indirect Evidence Twomeys argument is based on several lines of indirect evidence. First, he cites the metabolic demands of relatively big-brained Middle Pleistocene hunter-gatherers  and suggests that brain evolution required cooked food. Further, he argues that our distinctive sleep patterns (staying up after dark) are deeply rooted and that hominids began staying in seasonally or permanently cool places by 800,000 years ago. All of this, says Twomey, implies effective control of fire. Gowlett and Richard Wrangham argue that another piece of indirect evidence for the early use of fire is that our ancestors Homo  erectus evolved smaller mouths, teeth, and digestive systems, in striking contrast to earlier hominids. The benefits of having a smaller gut could not be realized until high-quality foods were available all year long. The adoption of cooking, which softens food and makes it easier to digest, could have led to these changes. Hearth Fire Construction A hearth is a deliberately constructed fireplace. The earliest examples were made by collecting stones to contain the fires, or simply by reusing the same location again and again and allowing the ash from previous fires to accumulate. Hearths from the Middle Paleolithic period (about 200,000 to 40,000 years ago) have been found at sites such as the Klasies River Caves in South Africa, Tabun Cave in Israel, and Bolomor Cave in Spain. Earth ovens, on the other hand, are hearths with banked and sometimes domed structures built of clay. These types of hearths were first used during the Upper Paleolithic period for cooking and heating and sometimes for burning clay figurines. The Gravettian Dolni Vestonice site in the modern Czech Republic has evidence of kiln construction, although construction details did not survive. The best information on Upper Paleolithic kilns is from the Aurignacian deposits of Klisoura Cave  in Greece. Fuels Relict wood was likely the fuel used for the earliest fires. Purposeful selection of wood came later: hardwood such as oak burns differently than softwood such as pine, since the moisture content and density of a wood all affect how hot or long it will burn. In places where wood was not available, alternative fuels such as peat, cut turf, animal dung, animal bone, seaweed, and straw were used to build fires. Animal dung was likely not consistently used until after animal domestication  led to the keeping of livestock, about 10,000 years ago. Sources Attwell L., Kovarovic K., and Kendal J.R. Fire in the Plio-Pleistocene: The Functions of Hominin Fire Use, and the Mechanistic, Developmental and Evolutionary Consequences. Journal of Anthropological Sciences, 2015.Bentsen S.E. Using Pyrotechnology: Fire-Related Features and Activities With a Focus on the African Middle Stone Age. Journal of Archaeological Research, 2014.Gowlett J.A.J. The Discovery of Fire by Humans: A Long and Convoluted Process. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2016.Gowlett J.A.J., and Wrangham R.W. Earliest Fire in Africa: Towards the Convergence of Archaeological Evidence and the Cooking Hypothesis. Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 2013.Stahlschmidt M.C., Miller C.E., Ligouis B., Hambach U., Goldberg P., Berna F., Richter D., Urban B., Serangeli J., and Conard N.J. On the Evidence for Human Use and Control of Fire at Schà ¶ningen. Journal of Human Evolution, 2015.Twomey T. The Cognitive Implications of Controlled Fire Use by Early Humans. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 2013.