Which learning theories and principles do you think are most useful to the advanced practice nurse (APN) in providing high quality health care to clients, and why?
Learning Theories, Principles and Quality Health Care
The primary aim of an advanced practice nurse (APN) is to improve the health of individual patients, families, and communities. Advanced practice nurses can achieve their objectives only by understanding their audience or patients properly. Learning theories help in a proper understanding of others to provide them with their exact needs (WGU, 2020). Therefore, advanced practice nurses can use different forms of learning theories to understand their patients and provide them with proper medical care. Some of the learning theories an APN can utilize include cognitive, behaviorism, and social learning theories (Mukhalalati & Taylor, 2019). In that regard, this paper discusses learning theories that are most useful to APNs in providing high-quality healthcare to patients.
Cognitive learning theory focuses on how people think. Mental processes are an important part of understanding how others learn, which can be influenced by both internal and external elements. Cognitive learning theories are associated with mental and psycho-logic processes to facilitate learning by assigning meaning to events such as perceptions, insights, and others (WGU, 2020). The advanced practice nurse can use cognitive learning theory to help them understand themselves and their clients. Cognitive learning theory helps APNs understand the internal operations of their thought processes. A person learns by forming a new understanding through the modification of thoughts and perceptions (Mukhalalati & Taylor, 2019). In addition, APNs can use cognitive theory to understand patients’ cognitive patterns and develop proper care regimens.
The second theory is behaviorist-learning theory; which may also be called behaviorism or behavioral learning theory. It holds the idea that people behave based on their interaction with the environment (WGU, 2020). This theory suggests that one’s behavior is influenced and learned from external rather than internal forces. APNs can utilize this learning theory to see how to adjust their reactions, attitudes, and perceptions in different patient situations, hence, improving care. Based on the theory, APNs can make use of positive reinforcement to help patients learn a concept to help them change a behavior (Mukhalalati & Taylor, 2019). Those who have been subjected to positive retirement are more likely to retain information moving forward, this is a direct result of the behaviorist theory.
The third important theory is the social learning theory, which focuses on the concept of learning based on observing others. It integrates the concept of behavior modeling with those cognitive learning to strengthen the understanding of a performance of a task (WGU, 2020). Learning is a societal process whereby one can emulate others. However, before emulating perceived actions, one needs to examine and evaluate the relevance of the new conduct. APNs can utilize social learning theory to learn from experienced providers to incorporate skills and strategies to improve patient care (WGU, 2020). If a particular care leads to excellent outcomes, the APN incorporates it into practice to deliver high-quality patient care.
In summary, the main aim of any advanced practice nurse is to improve the health status of their patients. Learning theories can help an APN to improve the quality of patient care in one way or the other. These learning theories help the APNs to understand patients as well as themselves. The three learning theories discussed include behaviorist, cognitive, and social learning theories. This paper discussed how these theories could help APNs improve the quality of patient care.
References
Mukhalalati, B. A., & Taylor, A. (2019). Adult learning theories in context: a quick guide for healthcare professional educators. Journal of medical education and curricular development, 6, https://doi.org/10.1177/2382120519840332
WGU. (2020). Five Educational Learning Theories. https://www.wgu.edu/blog/five-educational-learning-theories2005.html#close