In the education and training process, learning needs assessment has a fundamental role to play. It generates change in the various practices and, most governments have made it a policy in continuing professional development. Since learning needs assessment occurs for a variety of educational purposes, its role should be clearly defined and, the methods used to make the findings well determined. The over reliance on formal needs assessment in education has become redundant due to the integration of learning needs assessment which provides a creative and professional educational instrument. Additionally, although the idea of educational needs assessment is preserved in policy, educational norm and practice, many factors focus on the need for proper planning and research in this field.
In this learning needs assessment, nursing facility was considered. In this case, Canterbury Place, a skilled nursing facility under the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre, was considered. Canterbury Place is a skilled nursing facility situated in the historic town of Lawrenceville in Pittsburgh, United States of America. The place provides an all-round nursing needs to the community including skilled nursing, personal care, and memory support in a comfortable and affordable home-like environment (“Canterbury Place," n.d.).
Under personal care, the facility thrives with the idea that the availability of help when needed creates all the difference. The facility has personal care residences that provide perfect homes for adults who may require extra care that include day-to-day routines, nutritional support, and medications. The skilled nursing section provides an expert rehabilitation program for those in the recovery process. The recovery mostly takes place after surgery or other medical treatments. Skilled nursing also involves the provision of round the clock nursing services, support with activities of daily living, and health care aimed at restoration and independence. Among the specialized services offered include physical therapy, hyper alimentation, feeding tubes, wound care services and occupational therapy. The memory support section offers a wide range of geriatric services. Patients experiencing short term loss of memory and illnesses related to dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, receive specialized memory support medication from the state-of-the-art memory care unit in the facility (“Canterbury Place," n.d.). Additionally, Canterbury Place provides Assisted Living facility. Such facilities are apartment-styled buildings designed to offer day-to-day living activities to the elderly such as housekeeping, laundry, preparing meals and performing regular check-ins. An assisted living facility aids in bridging the gap between nursing facilities and, living independently.
The process of identifying educational needs is very empowering and provides a critical insight in one’s career growth. The main objectives of educational needs assessment and analysis involve the need to identify and discuss knowledge deficits in the nursing facility setting. Additionally, it aims at finding out a suitable learning assessment approach easy to implement in the work setting and, generate a first round plan to execute educational needs assessment for the best practice of the learner (London, n.d.).
The highest educational need in the facility entailed the identification of background of the various levels of nurses working in the facility and their experience in handling the various sophisticated equipment used in the facility. The nurses had varied experiences depending on the department: either inpatient or outpatient; and academic preparation. From the assessment, nursing experience ranged from those naturally born to be nurses to those who chose nursing as a second career. Some nurses took the career due to a change in roles, relocation, and as part timers. Since the nurses from the different departments worked in collaboration, understanding all the functionalities of the different types of equipment used within the facility was essential. Hence, identifying their level of understanding of the profession provided a platform for identifying how well they understood the equipment in the facility. Most importantly, educational needs assessment is necessary for the discussion and maintenance of competency. Competency refers to the ability of an individual to perform an assigned duty diligently. Under the nursing facility setting, competency involved a set of distinct behaviours that offered a structured guide in the day-to-day activities in the workplace. To sum it up, understanding the concepts of learning needs assessment based on the ‘want to know’ versus the ‘need to know’ was essential in the nursing facility setting. Self-assessment, survey monkeys, and observational assessment tools provide a concise way of assessing the ‘need to know’ and ‘want to know.' Achieving the highest degree of knowledge on the use of the equipment required an in-house training by specialists who understood the equipment.
In order to respond to the identified educational needs, several factors come into play. Some factors may support the learning needs while others may not. Conducting a proper learning needs assessment needs huge financial investments. Acquiring the different educational assessment tools needed involves finances. Hence, the facility must provide proper budgetary allocation for the success of the assessment. Since the assessment normally takes place during work hours, it becomes a challenge to involve the nurses while on duty. The issue of staff receptiveness comes into play since most of the staff will be unwilling to take part in an activity bring distraction. Additionally, goodwill from the management is essential for the assessment process to succeed without hiccups.
The Canterbury Place falls under the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre. Therefore, the overall director of the medical centre oversees all the functions of the facility with the help of the facility’s director. In response to the educational needs identified as the highest priority, it follows that the facility’s director passes on the identified needs to the overall director for action.
References
Canterbury Place in Lawrenceville, PA - UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. (n.d.). Canterbury Place in Lawrenceville, PA - UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Retrieved June 11, 2014, from http://www.upmc.com/services/senior-communities/skilled/canterbury- place/pages/default.aspx
London, K. C. (n.d.). LEARNING NEEDS ASSESSMENT TOOL. . Retrieved June 11, 2014, from http://www.mstrust.org.uk/downloads/lna.pdf
