Nursing Mentor Scenario Introduction- Just as the theoretical and practical backgrounds of nursing have changed over the past several decades, so has the nursing education environment itself. . Students now entering the field are diverse in culture, educational background, and most especially age and experience. Traditional undergraduates coming directly from High School or Junior College often interact with more mature and experienced students. In addition, nursing instructors remain challenged to recognize different learning needs and styles, and respect that adaptive scenarios might be necessary to further the learning opportunities for many students. We thus see that the most effective way of teaching in the modern nursing classroom is to adjust one's pedagogical paradigm outward and to actively find new and innovative ways of reaching each student, rather than expecting each student to completely bend to the tried and true curriculum of previous generations (Young, L., Petson, B., eds., 2006). Too, we must not forget that foundationally the modern nurse leaders and instructor is expected to perform multiple roles and must therefore be prepared in a more humanities-based holistic curriculum themselves. This idea lends itself more to the area of moving beyond rote and into critical thinking areas. Critical thinking is primarily a way of looking at information, processing that information in an analytical manner, and being able to bring outside materials to bear upon the material studied. It is more of a process, and can be utilized in public speaking, reading, watching television or movies, or a general approach to daily life. In general, the basic aspect of critical thinking is to analyze the source material and decide upon its veracity and relevance learning (Ozturk, Muslu, & Dicle, 2007).

.Background - Mark G. is a second year nursing student who is one week away from his formative assessment. As the mentor in charge of this student, I have been collecting data about his performance through observation, written critiques from colleagues, reports from other faculty and staff, and Mark's own required documentation. Prior to completing any assessment, I find it helpful to both quantitatively and qualitatively review performance expectations, areas of concern or difficulty, basic skills, and action plans:

Required

Skill Set

1 -- Poor or Unacceptable

2- Marginal

3- Good, Needs Improvement

4 -- Very Good

5 -- Excellent

Comments

Basic Verbal Communica- tions

Unable to form cogent verbal sentences and explain issues

Able to explain basic concepts verbally

Adequate expression, fully under-standable

Very good communica-tion skills, able to follow and anticipate

Superior oral communica-tions, cogent, goes beyond ordinary abilities, highly professional.

2- Below average in verbal communication; has been counseled to seek help.

Basic Written Communica-tions

Unable to form cogent written sentences and paragraphs that explain issues

Able to explain basic concepts in written manner; many grammar or spelling errors

Adequate expression, fully under-standable, few mistakes

Very good communica-tion skills, able to follow and anticipate, littler or no mistakes

Superior written communica-tions, cogent, goes beyond ordinary abilities, highly professional.

2 -- Below average in written skills, has been counseled to seek help.

Charting

and Documenta-tion

Inadequate or missing documentation, sloppy procedures

Barely meets standards for cogent docs.

Meets standards but still has errors or omissions

Meets all standards, few errors, good quality

Exceed expectations, very thorough, well documented, professional

2- Only gross or obvious items charted, "forgets" regularly

Wise use of time

Lots of down time, non-work chatter, cell phone use, not on task

On task most of the time, frequent breaks, inability to focus

Usually completes tasks on time but often needs reminding and supervision

Completes tasks professionally and on time, does not need to be "managed" for daily tasks.

Excels by anticipating further tasks without being told. Great self- managing skills

2- May show signs of ADD, unable to focus for longer periods of time.

Basic Nursing Care Skills

Inadequate attention to detail or tasks; inability to perform basic skills set

Has trouble remember-ing skill set and order; trouble charting

Adequate,...

This eliminates the tendency to overly rely on personality and "feelings." Mark, in fact, is a very pleasant young man, with a winning smile, and an ease of personality that makes it easy for both patients and colleges to warm to. However, modern nursing is far more than just being able to provide for one aspect of patient care. The demands of the profession, the expectations of hospitals, care facilities, colleagues, and physicians are far higher than ever, and the requirements for the profession far more stringent than in the past. It appears we have 4 choices with Mark, all of which depend on his commitment and abilities to perform under pressure.
Place Mark on probation for 90 days, his degree progress on hold; specifically during that time Mark must make concerted efforts to move all scores in the 2 range to minimum of 3. This may involve tutoring, etc.

Move Mark back into a 1st year class to repeat course work (charting, etc.) which should help him develop the skills needed if there is a learning disability -- potential psychological and/or fiscal issues.

Drop Mark from the program or suggest he move into Medical Technology, Phlebotomy, or another Medical Aspect.

Allow Mark to continue without probation, only a verbal warning that he must improve prior to next evaluation (Bulman and Schutz, eds. 1997; Cramer & Davidhizar, 2008).

Conclusions - Based on the evidence at hand, as well as Mark's personality, financial commitment thus far, and the overall impression of working with him, I would tend to recommend option 1 above. This is not simply for Mark's benefit, although that is the primary goal, but for the benefit of the profession. ). According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, "the United States is in the midst of a nursing shortage that is expected to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows. Compounding the problem is the fact that nursing colleges and universities across the country are struggling to expand enrollment levels to meet the rising demand for nursing care" (Rosseter, 2011). Students are not cogs in a large factory wheel, but individuals who must be mentored and cherished into new roles. Educational institutions, like companies, need to focus not on individual products or services, but at solutions for individual student needs (Epp & Price, 2011). By giving Mark the confidence and tools with which to perform, but a strictly enforced timeline, he can choose to succeed if he wishes. We thus see that the most effective way of teaching in the modern nursing classroom is to adjust one's pedagogical paradigm outward -- to be clinically oriented but culturally sensitive, attuned to different learning styles, and above all -- aware that teaching is not rote memorization and requires an active and robust toolbox (Bradshaw & Lowenstein, 2011).

Works Cited

Bradshaw, M., & Lowenstein, A. (Eds.). (2011). Innovative Teaching Strategies in…