MODULE 4

HEALTH EDUCATION PROCESS

A. INTRODUCTION

In a variety of settings, nurses are responsible for the education of patients, families,
staff, and students. Numerous factors make the nurse educator's role particularly
challenging in meeting the information needs of these various groups of learners

To meet these challenges, the nurse educator must be aware of the various factors that
influence how well an individual learns. This module will address the 3 determinants of
learning as they influence the effective and efficient delivery of patient/family, student, and
staff education.

B. LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Explain the nurse educator’s role in the learning process.
2. Identify the 3 components of the determinants of learning.
3. Describe the steps involved in the assessment of learning needs.
4. Explain the methods that can be used to assess learner’s needs.
5. Discuss the factors that need to be assessed in each of the four types of readiness to
learn.
6. Describe what is meant by learner’s styles.

C. STUDY GUIDE AND STRUCTURE

Study Topic Learning Learning Assessment

Period Activities Resources
Health Education process, Learning pg. 120-121 Learning Activity
 Educator’s Role in Activity 4-1 output
Learning In your past
years, give an
example,
where you
experience,
that your
educator
plays an
important
role in your
learning?
Determinants of Learning Learning pg. 121-131 Learning Activity
1. Learning Needs Activity 4-2 output
What are the
7 methods to
assess patient
 learning
needs?

2. Readiness to Learn Learning pg. 131-139 Learning Activity

Activity 4-3 output
What are the
4 types of
readiness to
learn and the
components
of each type?
3. Learning Styles Learning pg. 139-162) Learning Activity
Activity 4-4 output
What is the
definition of
the term
learning
styles?

D. TOPICS

EDUCATOR’S ROLE IN LEARNING (NURSE AS EDUCATOR BY SUSAN B. BASTABLE, 2019, 5 th

EDITION, pg.120-121)

The role of educating others is one of the most essential interventions that a nurse
performs. To do it well, the nurse must both identify the information learner's needs and
consider their readiness to learn and their styles of learning. The learner- not the teacher- is
the single most important person in the education process.

The educator plays a crucial role in the learning process by doing the following:

 Assessing problems or deficits and learners’ abilities

 Providing important best evidence information and presenting it in unique and appropriate
ways.
 Identifying progress being made
 Giving feedback and follow-up
 Reinforcing learning in the acquisition of new knowledge, skills, and attitudes
 Determining the effectiveness of the education provided.

The educator is vital in giving support, encouragement, and direction during the process of learning.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES 4-1

In your past years, give an example, where you experience, that your educator plays an important role
in your learning

F. LEARNING ACTIVITIES

DETERMINATION OF LEARNINGS

Factors that influence how well an individual learns

 Needs of the learner- what the learner needs and want to learn
 The state of readiness to learn- when the learner is receptive to learn
 The preferred learning styles for processing information- how the learner best learns

I. ASSESSING LEARNING NEEDS

Learning needs are defined as gaps in knowledge that exist between a desired
level of performance and the actual level of performance (Healthcare Education
associates, 1989). In other words, learning needs is the gap between what
someone knows and what someone needs or wants to know. Such gaps may
arise because of a lack of knowledge, skill, or attitude.

Differences often exist between the perceptions of needs identified by patients

versus the needs identified by the health professional caring for them.
The following are important steps in the assessment of learning needs:
1. Identify the learner
2. Choose the right setting
3. Collect data about the learner
4. Collect date from the learner
5. Involve members of the healthcare
6. Prioritize needs
a. Mandatory
b. Desirable
c. Possible
 7. Determine the availability of educational resources
8. Assess the demands of the organization
9. Take time management issues into account

Methods to assess Learning Needs

The nurse in the role of educator must obtain objective data about the
learner as well as subjective data from the learner. This section describes
various methods that educators can use to assess learner’s needs and these
methods should be used in combination to yield the most reliable information
(Haggard, 1989)

1. Informal Conversations
2. Structured Interviews
3. Focus Group
4. Questionnaires
5. Tests
6. Observations
7. Documentation

LEARNING ACTIVITIES 4-2

What are the 7 methods to assess patient learning needs?

II. READINESS TO LEARN

Once, the educator has identified learning needs, the next step
is to determine the learner’s readiness to receive information.
Readiness to learn can be defined as the time when the learner
demonstrates an interest in learning the information necessary to
maintain optimal health or to become more skillful in a job. Often,
educators noted that when a patient, staff member, or student asks a
question, the time is prime for learning.
 Take time to PEEK at the 4 types of Readiness to Learn
1. Physical Readiness
 Measures of Ability
 Complexity of Task
 Environmental effects
 Health Status
 Gender
2. Emotional Readiness
 Anxiety level
 Support System
 Motivation
 Risk-Taking Behavior
 Frame of Mind
 Developmental Stage
3. Experiential Readiness
 Level of Aspiration
 Past Coping Mechanism
 Cultural Background
 Locus of Control
4. Knowledge Readiness
 Present Knowledgebase
 Cognitive Ability
 Learning Disabilities
 Learning Styles

LEARNING ACTIVITIES 4-3

What are the 4 types of readiness to learn and the components of each type?
III. LEARNING STYLE
Before using any learning style instrument, it is important
to determine the reliability and validity of the tool and to realize
that an inclusive instrument that measures all domains of
learning-cognitive, affective, and psychomotor does not exist.
It is best to use more than one instrument tool for
assessment. The educator should not rely heavily on these
instruments because they are intended not for diagnosis but
rather to validate what the learner perceives in comparison to
what the educator perceives.
When approached from this perspective, these instruments will
help the nurse educator in developing a more personalized form of
instruction.

Learning Style Models and Instruments

 Right-Brain/Left Brain and Whole Brain Thinking

o Please study(Box 4-3) on page 142 of your
Textbook
o Instruments to measure Right-Brain/Left Brain
and Whole Brain Thinking
 Field Independent/Field Dependent perception
o Please study (Box 4-4) on page 143 of your
Textbook
o The instrument to Measure Field
Independence/field Dependence
 Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles
o Please study figure 4-2 on page 145 of your
textbook
o 5 basic stimuli
 Environmental Elements
 Emotional Elements
 Sociological Patterns
 Physical Elements
 Psychological Element
o Instruments to Measure the Dunn and Dunn
Learning Style Inventory
 Jung and Myers-Briggs Typology
o Please study figure 4-3, 4-4 on page 149, and
box 4-5 on page 151 of your textbook.
 o The instrument to Measure the Myers-Briggs
Personality Types
 Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model
o Please study Figure 4-5 on page 153 of your
textbook
o The instrument to measure Kolb's Experiential
Learning Styles
 4MAT system
o Please study Figure 4-6 on page 155 of your
textbook
o The instrument to measure the 4MAT system
 Gardner’s Eight Types of Intelligence
o The instrument to measure Multiple
Intelligences (http://www.miresearch.org/)
 VARK’s Learning Styles
o The instrument to measure the VARK

LEARNING ACTIVITIES 4-4

What is the definition of the term learning styles?

G. ASSIGNMENT:
 Please answer the questions on the Case presented about Barbara Lund on page
163 of your textbook.

H. REFERENCE
 Nurse as Educator by Susan B. Bastable, 2019,5 th edition,