Educating and Socializing Staff in a Learning Organization

learning organization (LO)

• promotes a shared vision and collective learning in order to create a positive needed organizational change

• collective learning goes beyond the boundaries of individual learning and releases gains for both the individual and the organization

• a premise of the learning organization is that learning itself enhances the team

senges model of learning organization

• organizations can be continuously adaptive and innovative by mastering five core disciplines:

  • personal mastery

  • mental models

  • shared vision

  • team learning

  • systems thinking

personal mastery

• commitment to lifelong learning and self-improvement at an individual level

• involves a continuous effort to align one's personal vision with the current reality, which can be a source of creativity

mental models

• deeply held, often unconscious, beliefs and assumptions that influence how individuals perceive and interpret the world.

• this discipline involves challenging and refining these mental models to better understand complex situations

shared vision

• collectively held vision of the future that inspires unity and commitment within the organization

• built from individual visions and helps guide people toward common goals

team learning

• process of aligning and developing the capacity of a team to achieve its goals

• requires mastering practices like dialogue (creative exploration) and discussion (defending views) to solve complex problems collaboratively 

systems thinking

• ability to see the organization as a whole and understand the interconnectedness of all its parts

• involves recognizing that complex problems are often not due to single causes but result from intricate feedback loops within the larger system

training

an organized method of ensuring that people have knowledge/skills for a specific purpose and that they have acquired the necessary knowledge to perform the duties of the job

education

• more formal and broader in scope than training

• training has an immediate use vs education is designed to develop individuals in a broader sense

learning theories

• adult learning theory

• social learning theory

adult learning theory

created by knowles and it explains how teaching adults (andragogy) is different from teaching children (pedagogy)

social learning theory

made by bandura and its the theory that people learn behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions through observation, imitation, and modeling in other words from interactions with others in a social context

other learning theories

• readiness to learn

• motivation to learn

• reinforcement 

• task learning

• transfer of learning

• span of memory

• chunking

• knowledge of results

implications of knowles work for trainers and educators

• climate of openness and respect will assist in the identification of what the adult learner wants and needs to learn

• adults enjoy taking part in and planning their learning experiences

• adults should be involved in the evaluation of their progress

• experiential techniques work best with adults

• mistakes are opportunities for adult learning

• if value of adults experience is rejected —> adult will feel rejected

• adults readiness to learn is greatest when they recognize that there is a need to know (such as in response to a problem)

• adults need to apply what they have learned very quickly in an opportunity

• assessment of need is imperative in adult learning

what are some obstacles that prevent adults from learning?

• institutional barriers

• time

• self confidence

• situational obstacles

• family reaction

• special individual obstacles

what are some assets for adult learning?

• high self motivation

• self directed

• proven learner

• knowledge experience reservoir

• special individual assets

chunking - learning strategy

• presenting two independent items of information and grouping them together into one unit

• mind can remember only a limited number of chunks of data, experienced nurses can include more data in those chunks than novice nurses

3 reasons for staff development

1. to establish competence

2. to meet new learning needs

3. to satisfy interests the staff may have in learning in specific areas

steps for developing an educational program

1. identify the desired knowledge/skills that the staff should have 

2. identify the present level of knowledge/skill

3. determine the deficit of desired knowledge and skills

4. identify the resources available to meet needs

5. make maximum use of available resources

6. evaluate and test outcomes after use of resources

evaluation criteria for staff development activities

• learners reaction

• behavior change

• organizational impact

• cost-effectiveness

• staff satisfaction

EBP

facilitating EBP is a shared responsibility of the professional nurse, organization, leader-managers, and the education/staff development department

strategies for promoting EBP

• develop and refine researched based policies and procedures

• build consensus from the interdisciplinary team through development of protocols, decision trees, standards of care, institutional clinical practice guidelines, etc

• make research findings accessible through libraries and computer resources

• provide organization support such as time to do research and educational assistance to teach staff to interpret research statistics and use findings

• encourage cooperation among professionals

• hire nurse researchers or consultants to assist staff

socialization

• lifelong process of learning and internalizing the values, norms, and behaviors of one's society

• learning the behaviors that accompany each role by instruction, observation, and trial/error

• involves sharing of values/attitudes of the organization

• creates a fit between new staff members and the unit by introducing them to the norms of the group

• socialization happens in a downward flow

resocialization

occurs when individuals are forced to learn new values, skills, attitudes, and social rules as a result of changes in the type of work they do in the scope of responsibility they hold or in the work setting itself

role changes

organizations often fail to address socialization problems that occur in job, position, or status changes

role overload

• occurs when demands of the role are excessive

• ensure as a leader, youre not overburding them, seeing when theyre ready, talk with them about their readiness

role models

• a person you look up to as a role model, you want to emulate their behaviors

• may be a passive or nonexistent relationship 

• person can have many role models

• cumulative effect

preceptor

• experienced nurse who provides knowledge and emotional support as well as clarification of role expectations on a 1:1 basis

• effective preceptors role model and adjust teaching to each learner as needed

mentoring

• in-depth supportive and nurturing relationship between a expert and a novice

• formal relationship typically lasts 2-5 years with mentor being 1 generation older than mentee

• many nurses have limited opportunities to have a true mentoring relationship in their lives

phases of mentoring process

1. exploring whether to begin a mentoring relationship

2. negotiating a mentoring agreement with goals and deadlines

3. implementing the agreement and periodically reviewing progress made

4. summarizing and formally concluding the mentoring relationship

behavioral sanctions

• bestowing of rewards and punishments

• used to show employees what behavior is rewarded or eschewed in an organization

• rarely carried out on a systematic and planned basis

group norms

• group norms are how you know you are within the orgs culture, feeling a part of all thats going on, understanding the etiquette, norms, and code

• the manager should know what the group norms are and should be observant of the sanctions used by the group t make newcomers conform

• manager should take appropriate intervention if group group norms are not part of the organizational culture

unique socialization needs of international nurses

• often experience cultural, professional, and psychological dissonance

• communication problems

• anxiety, homesickness, and isolation

coaching

• work with someone to help us become more empowered, learn new skills, look at greater options, and just learn how to grow overall

• one person helping another to achieve an optimal level of performance

• tools for empowering subordinates, changing behavior, and developing a cohesive team

• emphasis on assisting the employee to recognize greater options, clarify statements, and to grow