Lifelong learning is a voluntary exercise to add knowledge either for personal development or professional development (Hargreaves 23). When I look back at my nursing career, I can view tremendous changes that have happened both in my personal life and profession, from my first day in a nursing class and now. The nursing profession involves learning about human body systems and how each organ functions. I have learned the kind of diets reliable to people of all ages, as well as how to identify symptoms and connect to the kind of illness they are associated with.
Most importantly, I was surprised by the kind of learning we have. I thought nursing was all about learning theories, but practical is the most widely thing learnt, as well as the most important. I realized that one cannot be able to deduce how the body system works without visual analysis of the body system itself. That was interesting. I also learned to do extensive but personal research to add knowledge on my profession, to make me a better nurse, as well as to improve my personal development. A “light bulb” went off my head after extensive reading, because I realized most of the things are not taught, but people read to discover them by themselves without the help of the lecturers.
I cannot also forget about contemporary learning that I came across, entailing extensive knowledge on health technologies, complex treatment, new roles, standard guidelines, the voice of patients, cost containment, explosion of scientific knowledge as well as high acuity. All these helped in my preparation to becoming a professional nurse. Needless to say, the class has been fantastic, but if there was one thing I would like taken away, its more theoretical works especially in the afternoon. Instead of theory, I would prefer practical in the afternoons.
Works Cited
Hargreaves, David H. "Learning for life: The foundations of lifelong learning." (2005).
