Comprehensive Teaching Plan and Assessment Strategy- Integrating Course Design for Effective Learning Outcomes Course Overview Introduction
Nurses, the largest workforce in the healthcare system, provide continuous bedside care, which is critical to ensure desirable clinical outcomes and prevent readmissions. These tasks include surveillance of any complications, patient education and development of discharge plans (Ma et al., 2015). Nurse educators provide important teaching for nursing students to ensure they have the requisite knowledge required to implement patient-centered care and improve healthcare outcomes. Nurse educators evaluate learning and competencies in classrooms and clinical environments. In addition, nurses can also assume the role of patient educators. To improve healthcare outcomes, they can educate patients on medication use, adherence to treatment plans, and lifestyle modifications. Nurse educators assure patients that they can implement the care plans necessary to improve their health status.
Moreover, the United States healthcare industry is complex. Healthcare services are offered to patients from different diversities regarding socioeconomic status, culture, ethnicity, and age. Additionally, individual needs are diverse, including preventive care, maintenance treatment, and follow-up. Subsequently, healthcare professionals are diverse due to training, geographical locations, and competencies. It is thus essential to consider diversities when implementing a teaching plan to prevent hospital readmission to patients.
Hospital Readmission Prevention
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) penalize healthcare facilities for readmissions. According to CMS, if a patient is readmitted to a healthcare facility within thirty days, the hospital will not be reimbursed for this readmission (Wadhera et al., 2019). The CMS opines that readmission with the same condition within thirty days is preventable. This “hospital readmission prevention” topic will be delivered to admitted patients with chronic healthcare conditions such as diabetes mellitus. Subsequently, a follow-up teaching will be carried out using telemedicine after patient discharge. Accordingly, teaching the patient in an inpatient setting will teach them about their diagnosis. The patients will understand their disease and the plan of care implemented by their doctors. After the physician has developed a care plan, the patient educator will teach self-care strategies to prevent hospital readmission rates.
Learning Theory and Diversity Assessment
Learning Theory
Learning theory refers to a logical and systematic framework that describes, explains, and predicts how to change thinking, skill or behavior through experience. It is critical to identify the learning needs of each individual in the audience. For instance, a nurse educator classifying all ethnic and cultural groups with the same attributes will negate the unique needs of each individual (Oermann et al., 2017). However, educating patients about the symptoms of complications and deterioration of diabetes mellitus could not be without challenges. The patient educator must use different teaching strategies based on the adopted learning theories. Learning theories that describe human behavior modifications provide a template for guidelines for teaching.
Constructivism Learning Theory
Constructivism acknowledges the existence of prior knowledge. It opines that the patients will interpret what they experience based on what they already know (Oermann et al., 2017). Constructivism is learned-centered since it recognizes the role of the learner in engaging information and constructing meaning. This theory will allow the patients to construct their meaning of the new information (Kumar Shah, 2019). Deriving actual information will depend on past experiences, beliefs, values, and attitudes when processing the information. The patient educator should promote feedback and ask guiding questions during the session.
As a constructivist teacher, I will guide the patients and facilitate learning by implementing a supportive environment. The learners will actively engage in the learning process to facilitate remembering. Learners who actively participate will comply with treatment plans in their homes. For example, if patients understand the benefits of monitoring their weight daily for fluid overload, they will understand why the physician prescribes daily weight checks. Therefore, this will improve compliance. The patient will understand that the daily weight checks are not to burden them but are a care plan to monitor fluid overload, which can exacerbate chronic conditions resulting in hospital readmission.
Behaviorist Learning Theory
The theory opines that learning occurs when stimuli are linked to responses. According to this the