Learning Styles For Student Nurses

Learning Styles For Student Nurses This assignment will be discussing on why it is believed that learning styles are useful to student nurses. In addition, it will focus on the students dominant learning style, acknowledging her own strengths and weaknesses, identifying areas where it is necessary to improve her weaker style and how these can be built on for the future. Kolbs (1984), Experiential learning model defines learning as the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience (p.26). Fleming (2001) defines learning style as an individuals characteristics and preferred ways of gathering, organizing, and thinking about information (p.1). According to Honey and Mumford learning styles (2006), we are all the product of our own learning, including everything we know, everything we do, everything we believe and everything we have learnt. Learning styles can be defined as a process where each person has different learning styles and method in which they learn. This depends on who and the type of learning they are. Everyone has different personalities and preferences on their likes and dislikes. Some people also tend to have different learning steps that act as guidelines to their personal learning style. Once student nurses have an idea on their learning style preferences, they will find it much easier to make some important decisions and choices for themselves. Indeed, Honey (2006) stated that learning styles preferences can be a revelation. The understanding of learning styles will be useful to student nurses because it allows student nurses to have a better chance of overcoming any difficult situation. Having a good understanding of how we learn can help us make smarter choices (Bishop, Bixby, Kravits et al, 1999). Understanding of learning styles will be useful for student nurses as it allows them to be successful on their nursing programme because knowing how they learn will significantly increase their chances of securing the best possible environment necessary for efficient work being carried out amongst members of the team. Some studies suggest that identification of learning strategies best suited for different learning styles may increase the learning effectiveness of each individual student and will increase student adaptive flexibility to alter their learning styles to respond to the learning demand of specific environment Carnell et al, 2000). In addition, an understanding of learning styles will allow student nurses to effectively target areas where an improvement is required. Duff (2004) suggests that: Students with a preference for a deep approach to studying as individuals who look for meaning in what they are learning and enjoy the learning activity; make connections to previous learning; use logic, reasoning, and evidence well; and examine critically what they have learned and are learning. (p.56). Student nurses with a preference will enjoy studying and organising their routines and managing their time in order for them to reach their highest grade possible. Understanding of learning styles will be useful to student nurses as it would help them identify the flaws present in their learning style. When they are able to recognise their learning style, it allows them to develop effective and appropriate skills amongst each other. Knowing their learning opportunities and the way which they learn best will make learning easier, more effective and more enjoyable. It saves them Tackling their learning on a hit and miss basis When they are equipped with different ideas and information about their learning preferences it will allow them to have more hits and fewer misses (Honey, 2006). When they acquire enough information about their learning styles, it enables them to locate areas that are harder and tricky to navigate for themselves. Understanding of their learning styles as a student nurse will improve their self-confidence and improve their self-image. Knowing their learning style as a student nurse will give them insight on their strengths and weakness and will enable them to enjoy their learning process. According to Heffler (2001), the individual learning has both strengths and weaknesses depending on what is to be learnt and how (p.307-316). Understanding of their learning styles will enable them to stay up to date professionally and help improve co-operation among their colleagues. Furthermore, understanding each style has an advantage and disadvantage. Knowing their learning styles will expand them as a person and help them to work and learn more effectively and more efficiently. Understanding of learning styles as a student nurse will let them learn their way through their own best strategies. We all have different personalities, so everyone has different ways of learning. We do not usually choose the type of activities that best suits us because we are unaware that some methods suit us and some do not (Jasper, 2003). According to Jasper (2003) Most of the learning that we are aware takes place in a formal learning situation where teaching and learning methods are not chosen by us but are imposed by other such as teachers, mentors and lecturers (p.44) My own dominant traits found from my Honey (2006) questionnaire includes; reflector, theorist and pragmatist. No-one learns completely in just one style, we all tend to fall under the one descriptor and borrow characteristics from the others (Kolb 1984). Gaining awareness in ways I learn best will be useful for me and will help me learn effectively in a way that suits me. Students with a preference for a strategic approach to studying want to organize their studying routines, manage their time, and learn what is expected to achieve the highest grade possible. (Duff 2004, P. 56-72). As a reflector, when with a group of friends, I listen to their opinions and apply my own understanding to the discussion before putting points across to other people to hear. I always prefer to take a thoughtful approach in whatever I have been told through using different perspectives. When I have been corrected about something, I always like to make decisions in my own time. At the end of the day, I always have the opportunity to think about what has happened throughout my day, what I have learned and what I could have done better. Although I generally have the opportunity to reflect on what has happened and how I could improve it, I am sometimes forced into situations that involve taking action without planning. For example, in the first day of my clinical placement, I was asked by one of the staff nurses to wash the patient, which I found quite difficult as I did not have much experience in that. As a theorist, Reflecting back on my past experience, I feel hesitant contributing to group work due to lack of confidence which then reflect in my work because when given an assignment, I tend to rush through them without planning and I struggle with time management. When given any tasks to carry out, I always ensure that I think through them step by step. I am quite good at asking probing questions for example what exactly do you mean by that. During my placement, when working with my mentor I discovered that I always ask the same questions repeatedly which got my mentor frustrated at times. I always find myself with people who ask searching questions. Also, I create time to explore the association and inter-relationships between ideas, events and situations. However, I feel uncomfortable with subjective matter and my approach to problems is always logical. I tend to be detached and dedicated to logical objectivity rather than anything subjective and often take unnecessary risks when doing things. I feel out of tune with other participant for example when I am with a lot of activists. As a pragmatist, during my placement, I observed how staff nurses worked in practice through ensuring providing good quality of care for the patient. All I learnt from my placement, I always ensure that I give myself an opportunity to try out what I have learnt and concentrating on the practical issues such as action plans. I am more comfortable in learning from a demonstration by someone showing me how it can be done. On the other hand, I am not very interested in theory or basics principles and tend to focus on tasks, instead of people which have made me impatient during any discussion with people. Although, I test things out in practice but I am likely to reject things without obvious application and I involve myself in unstructured activities where uncertainty is high. Knowing my own dominant learning has helped me recognise that other people approaches the same situation in a complete different way from me and this has helped me access the ability to learn from experiences. David Kolb (1984). Reflecting back on the feedback from Honey (2006) questionnaire, I realised that my score for activist is low so In order to strengthen my Activist style, according to Argyris (1962 emphasizing the process of how to learn, how to diagnose administrative situations, how to learn from experience- these are timeless wisdom (p.101-433). I will need to ensure that I learn from other peoples experience rather than just focusing on my own experience. This will benefit me as it would reduce the risk of making mistakes. To strengthen my activist style, I will experiment and involve myself with new and unfamiliar routines. I will involve myself more into conversations with other people, getting ideas off them and working as a team to solve problems. To strengthen my activist style, I will learn from new experiences opportunities and throw myself into tasks I think are difficult and challenging. Also, to strengthen my activist style, involve myself in more activities that require activists characteristics and ways of learning such as participating in situations emphasising emotions and feelings and listening more and reading about different ideas that emphasise logic. In conclusion, I have gained awareness about the ways in which I approach life, my attitude, beliefs and how I will use all these to exploit my learning opportunities throughout my course. Having recognised, explored on my previous experience, my own characteristics and approaches to life I can be able to actively plan to build up in succeeding on my course and while out in practice.

Porter

Michael five forces model Rivalry among competing Firms: this is usually the most powerful of the five competitive forces. The strategies pursued by one firm can be successful only to the extent that they provide competitive advantage over the strategies of other firms (Grobler 2009) ? Due to China’s incredibly high FDI rate, more and more companies are investing into Chinese businesses and strengthening them in both their domestic markets and also on the global front. With the ever increasing growth of their domestic markets it will only be a short while before they become the dominant market leader, if in this span of 30 years they could rise from nothing to 4th largest in the world then it shows what impact they really had and still have on the global economy. Potential entry of new competitors: whenever new firms can easily enter a particular industry, the intensity of competitiveness among firm’s increases. ?When new firms become strengthened through investments, they become direct competitors of the leaders in that industry. . g. A new Chinese innovation in the television industry grows rapidly, they will be direct competitors against any television firms based in China, for example LG and Sony Bargaining power of consumers: when consumers are concentrated, large or buy in volume their bargaining power represents a major force affecting intensity of competition in an industry (Grobler 2009) ? This goes for actual customers(public) and b2b businesses, because those that buy the larger quantities would get the cheaper rates no doubt, however in China how will that be decided? Will it be their size, market share, sales or Return on capital employed. Potential development of substitute products: in many industries firms are in close competition with producers of substitute products in other industries. ?As mentioned throughout this article, the Chinese have the ability to imitate anything, this factor will never disappear especially if Chinese firms enter European or American markets, how those manufacturers would react to the Chinese developments are unimaginable. Bargaining power of suppliers: the bargaining power of suppliers affects the intensity of completion in an industry, especially when there are large number of suppliers, when there are only a few good substitutes’ raw materials or when cost of switching materials is especially costly (Grobler 2009) Porter’s five forces will only be effective if it is done in a stable environment, it is done to see how attractive the industry is and if it is worth starting a new venture in that environment. Porter’s generic strategies †¢Cost leadership †¢Differentiation †¢Focus Cost leadership: Cost leadership means having the lowest per-unit (i. . , average) cost in the industry that is, lowest cost relative to your rivals. This could mean having the lowest per unit cost among rivals in highly competitive industries, in which case returns or profits will be low but however higher than competitors Or, this could mean having lowest cost among a few rivals where each firm enjoys pricing power and high profits Notice that cost leadership is defined independently of market structure. Differentiation: Differentiating the product offering of a firm means creating something that is perceived industry wide as being unique. It is a means of creating your own market to some extent. There are several approaches to differentiation: †¢Different design †¢Brand image †¢Number of features †¢New technology A differentiation strategy may mean differentiating along 2 or more of these dimensions. Focus: Here we focus on a particular buyer group, product segment, or geographical market. while low cost and differentiation are aimed at achieving their objectives industry wide, the focus or niche strategy is built on serving a particular target (customer, product, or location) very well. Note, however, hat a focus strategy means achieving either a low cost advantage or differentiation in a narrow part of the market. For reasons discussed above, this creates a defendable position within that part of the market. Risks of doing generic strategies Cost leadership †¢Requires continual capital investment because newer innovations cause older creations to become obsolete. †¢When focusing solely on making affordable low cost products, it can cause firms to be blinded to product changes that are needed. Ie. Quantity over quality †¢When costs do begin to increase it narrows the differences between competitors and advantage is ultimately lost For China, the main risk that would affect them the most is when focusing solely on quantity, especially because of their expertise in manufacturing they could lose sight of changes that need to be done to better sales. However, China does have the leading number of R&D departments, even though they might not be as innovative as the Japanese or South Koreans, they have the ability to imitate anything they produce which is why they play a major role in globalization, they can imitate anything except fresh air as they say. Differentiation Customer loyalty becomes too large to hold because of the cost differentiation between low cost firms and differentiating firms. †¢The consumer or buyer’s need to differentiate falls away because of price increases. †¢Imitation decreases perceived differentiation This area is where China are dominant, because they have the influence of causing differentiation to fail, because if the product looks the same, and does the same thing, the n why would they ever go for the more expensive, and thus Chinese markets prosper because economies of scale have brought their price down dramatically. This is also when manufacturers have to start looking for alternative suppliers because they now have to compete with China which is not an easy task, and in doing so, it almost definitely forces them to go global. Focus †¢When companies market to niches only they already take the risk of not completely satisfying a demographic segment and with other companies finding alternatives ways to better their market share eg. FDI or R&D labs, they face the risk of dissolving. On its own focus strategy’s should not be attempted by almost any kind of company, its main purpose is to satisfy a small group of consumers at a time, and if this is not the aim of the business then they are going to fall extremely short on their company vision. Books Grobler, W. (2009) Business strategy, CTI Education Group, Johannesburg. Johnson, G. scholes, K. Whittington, R. (2008) Exploring corporate strategy, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River.

Dr. Beckett’s Dental Office Essay

Introduction: Services are more different and very complex activities. The word service originally was associated with the work servants did for their master. As the dictionary define as â€Å"the action of serving, helping, or benefiting; conduct tending to the welfare or advantage of another†. On the other word, service are economic activities between two parties, implying an exchange of value between seller and buyer in the marketplace. Furthermore, the services are described as performances that are time-based, and bring about desired result to recipients, objects, or other assets for responsibility of purchasers. Experience is the best indicator of how good the service providers are. However, since there could be probable problems with consistency of quality, it is even more risky even with some experience to account. More so if the service is quite expensive, how could the marketers, guarantee the customers will satisfy the service as their expectation. That is why analyzing the factors for service marketing is a more tedious work compared to marketing goods. More factors are taken into consideration to ensure quality and minimize the risk. But quality entails costs, and not all consumers are able, and willing to gamble paying much for something unsure. Background of the study: Dr. Barbro Beckett is a dentist who seeks to differentiate her practice on the basis of quality. She was taught in the academe all about the technical part of dentistry but nothing on the business side. She had no formal training on how to run a business or how to assess customer needs. That wasn’t a resulting from labor laws, malpractice insurance, and the constant need to invest in new equipment and staff training as new technologies were introduced, her overhead expenses skyrocketed to 70-80% of revenues exclusive of her wages and office rentals. Furthermore, there was a movement in the U.S. to reduce the health care costs to insurance companies, employers and patients through large health maintenance organizations (HMO’s) who sets prices by putting an upper limit on the amount that doctors and dentists could charge for various procedures. But then again, Dr. Beckett, as a competitive dentist wanting to offer the highest level of dental care rather than being a low-cost provider, refused to become an HMO  provider for the reimbursement rate 80-85% of what she normally charge for treatment. Quality entails costs as they say, which is why patients of Dr. Beckett sometimes had to pay fees that were not covered by their insurance policies. If the quality difference is not substantial, then patients would rather go to HMO dentist offering lower costs. Therefore, Dr. Beckett decided to redesign the dental facilities, equipment and bring the best service delivery to the customer. Redesigning the Service Delivery System 1. Facilities and Equipment Dr. Beckett’s new office was Scandinavian in design. The waiting room and reception area were decorated with modern furniture, live plants, and flower and played softly classic music. Moreover, the clinic will provide the coffee or tea and magazines as well as the playground area for the children while their waiting for their appointments. Furthermore, the treatments areas were both functional and appealing, which provide the literature to explain what patients needed to do to maximize the benefits. 2. Service Personnel The staff members were separated by job function into â€Å"front office† (including receptionist, secretarial and financial) and â€Å"back office† (hygienists and chair side assistants) workers. Dr. Beckett valued her friendships with the staff members and involved them in the decision-making process by having a weekly meeting to discuss more strategic issue and resolve any problems. Moreover, Dr. Beckett provided her staffs many training or attending classes and workshops for improving their skill. She also rewarded their hard work by giving monthly bonuses and extra incentive to improve service delivery. 3. Procedures and Patients All the office systems were redesigned under the main goals which was to standardize some of the routine procedures and all the patients would receive the same level care. Key Managerial Problems The new policy from Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) The health maintenance organizations set the upper limit price for medical charge which give the advantages to patients. That their health insurance covered virtually all costs. But the doctors and dentists may not able to provide certain/high level of services under that limit price. Dr. Beckett had decided not to become a health maintenance organizations provider. She felt that she could not provide high-quality care to patients at those rate. She wanted to offer the highest level of dental care rather than being a low-cost provider. Refer to Dr. Beckett decision, she wanted the work environment to reflect her own personality and values as well as providing a pleasant place for her staff to work. Since higher quality care was more costly. She supposed that the quality differences are visible to the patients which they can realize and discover that it is worth to pay. The biggest challenge The biggest challenge for hospital/medical business is the customers have negative attitude and feel inconvenience to be applied the services. People who is willing to use the services mostly is patient that has uncomfortable feeling with their conditions. Dr. Beckett tried to reinforce the idea that quality dental care depend on a positive long-term relationship between patients and the dental team. It could be difficult to maintain a positive attitude. The job required precision and attention to detail, and the procedures were often painful for patients. Situation Evaluations Qualitative: 1. Service attributes Search attributes. The tangible characteristics that customer can evaluate before purchase. For example, clothing and furniture, â€Å"back office staffs† wear uniform in cheerful shades of pink, purple, and blue that matched the office dà ©cor can allow prospective consumers to try out. Experience attributes. The intangible characteristics that customer cannot evaluate before purchase. Customer must experience the service before such as reliability and customer support. In this case, customer experience can refer to 2,000 active patients. Also, Dr. Beckett’s patients often had to wait for 3-4 months for a routine cleaning and exam. Credence attributes. It’s not easy for customer to determine the quality how well the dentist have performed complex dental procedures, skills, and professionalism. Refer to the case; Dr. Beckett believed that referrals were a real advantage because new patients didn’t come in â€Å"cold†. All new patients were required to have an initial exam so that Dr. Beckett could do a needs assessments and education them about her service. Thus, the first indication to patients can make customer feel â€Å"warm† and â€Å"credence†. 2. Perceived risk Perceived risk is especially relevant for services that are difficult to evaluate before purchase and consumption, and first-time users are likely to face greater uncertainty. How Dr. Beckett’s dental office handle perceived risk? Functional (unsatisfactory performance outcomes): there was a small conference room with toys for children and DVD player that was used to show patients educational films about different dental procedures. Also, the chairs in the examining rooms were very comfortable. And attractive mobiles hanging from the ceiling to distract patients from unfamiliar sounds and sensations. Temporal (wasting time, consequences of delays): office policy specified that patients should be kept waiting no longer than 20 minutes, and staffs often called patients in advance if there would be delay. Psychological (personal fears and emotions): since most people disliked going to the dentist or felt that it was an inconvenience and come with negative attitude. Dr. Beckett tried to reinforce the idea that quality dental care depended on a positive long-term relationship between patients and the dental team. This Philosophy was reflected in the waiting area â€Å"We are a caring, professional dental team serving motivated, quality-oriented patients interested in keeping healthy smiles for a lifetime. Our goal is to offer a progressive and educational environment. Your concerns are our focus†. Social (how others think and react): most active patients who came infrequently are white-collar workers with professional jobs (university employees, health care workers, and managers/owners of local establishments). She did no advertising; all her business came from positive word of mouth by current patients. 3. Service expectation Expectation may come from word of mouth comments. For example: Patients could enjoy a cup of tea or coffee, magazine and newspaper while they waited for  their appointments. The treatment areas were both functional and appealing. Hygienists, a part of a largest team that worked together to provide quality care to patients. 90% of patients’ perceptions of quality come from their interactions with the front desk. â€Å"Thank you card† and â€Å"follow-up calls†, â€Å"gift bag† to patients Staff performance had to update their skills by attending classes and workshops. Make patients as comfortable as possible. Quantitative: About 2,000 active patients and waiting 3-4 months customers

The Theory Of The Workplace Planning Essay - 794 Words

advancement. Workplace planning should be used for organizational growth, and employee growth should be adjusted after quarterly reviews (Hassanain, 2010). Faith Evangelistic Assembly of God should employ two different strategies to recruit in order to fill vacancies. They should use internal recruitment, and external recruitment. First, the church can evaluate people within the organization who expressed a desire to move up in the organization. If these positions are not filled, the church can recruit externally with the use of social media. The purpose of internal recruitment before external recruit is to boost employee morale Established employees should not feel like they are being over-looked. Strategy Development: Theoretical Rationale: Theoretical rationale: Support your strategy development or rationale with psychological theory and proven consulting methods. The process of planning the workplace planning is subject to conditions of continuous change and uncertainty. The theory associated with workforce planning is developed on the basis of production and commitment aligning workplace to the organization’s general strategy. Workplace planning measures organizational needs, including user functions, geometrical and temporal needs, spatial performance, and associated costs, thereby enabling activity-based cost management. Opening a position for external candidates reduces the chance of promotions for existing workers. This may cause the existing employees toShow MoreRelatedFunctions And Functions Of Management1119 Words   |  5 Pagesengaging with an organisation s human talent and using the physical resources at a manager s disposal to accomplish desired goals a nd objectives (set by the stakeholders of the organisation) efficiently and effectively. Management comprises of planning, organising, staffing, leading, directing, and controlling an organisation (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal or objective which could either be set by the manager or the organisation’s highRead MoreManagement Foundations Essay1635 Words   |  7 Pagesthe framework from which later theories evolved and concerns efficiency and productivity, which in turn leads to effective and efficient management. Scientific management and the Administrative theory are both classical management theories, which provide information on managing in the workplace, which are very useful and vital to have in the workplace. These theories are very different in many ways as they both have different purposes when managing in the workplace although there are one or two similaritiesRead MoreManagement Theories1655 Words    |  7 PagesOrganization and Management Theories Heather Lunn-Howard HCS/514 11/3/2014 Jeani Thomas In this paper I will give an overview of four areas of management theory: Scientific Management, Human relations Theory, Bureaucracy, and administrative science. Along with some background on where each theory came from. Scientific Management Frederick Taylor, with his theories of Scientific Management, helped mold our modern management styles. In the early 1900s, FrederickRead MoreWorkplace Violence And Prevention And Health Administration1023 Words   |  5 Pagesimportant topics as: Workplace violence and prevention: Workplace violence as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA] is â€Å"any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site† (n.d.). In recent years workplace violence has received accumulative consideration, and has been increasingly responsible of accidents and work injuries. There are several types of workplace violence, it can be presentedRead MoreThe Benefits Of Pr Planning936 Words   |  4 PagesThe benefits of PR planning. PR planning assists practitioners to execute a campaign effectively in areas such communication, budgeting, monitoring progress, key learnings and identifying areas of improvement, which in turn demonstrate credibility, alignment to organisational goals and return on investment (Public Relations Institute of Australia 2015). PRIA (2015) recommends as best practice planning for PR programs to include research, measurement and evaluation processes. Setting communicationRead MoreManagement Skills Need For The Business Successful And Profitable At The Global Platform1638 Words   |  7 Pagesmanagers inspire, some motivate and other fails miserably to engage their employees. The management skills need to be effectively leveraged so as to maximize the success of the business and are the key elements for making the healthy and desirable workplace. Business is an entity with several numbers of internal and external customers and these customers are effectively managed via effective managem ent skills. Thus, management skills is about knowing and doing, whereby conceptual rules of managementRead MoreContemporary Management And Employee Employer936 Words   |  4 Pagesrelations. Management theories and employee-employer relations have been expanded from Taylor Frederick’s scientific theory into multiple theories and strategies including contemporary management functions, contributions in regards to the functions and employee-employer relations. Modern management approaches recognise that not all theories can be applied collectively in all situations. However there are four rudimentary management functions that are recognized: Planning, Organising, Leading andRead MoreHow Do People Learn Their Workplace?852 Words   |  4 PagesHow do people learn in their workplaces? That was a question in my mind while driving to the Jeddah Refinery where I had my first exposure to a workplace as an intern in 1998. I realized through that experience the difference between classroom learning and workplace learning. Since then, I have been interested in workplace learning as a lively topic throughout various stages in my career. I am currently work as a learning and staff development specialist. This job requires a set of roles and responsibilitiesRead MoreTheoretical Models847 Words   |  4 Pageswill know the individual positive or negative attributes of each employee. This will assist in determining how best to motivate everyone for t he good of the department. Many motivational theories exist but only equity and goal-setting theories will be discussed here. Equity Theory Theory Description Equity theory basis relies on the comparison of inputs to outcomes. In the work setting an employee’s education, skill set, and anything else he or she brings to the job position provides the input.Read MoreOrganizational Communication: Helps The World Stay Functional?.1034 Words   |  5 Pagescontribution within our American and Global society. We understand the practice of non-verbal communication. We understand the cyber culture of communication and how technology has developed the way we communicate. Nonetheless, out of the many aspects and theories, organizational communication is one of the most prevalent in the American society. America is well established for big business and corporations that work with and through communication. With organizational communication, it upholds the efforts