Answer 2 for NRS 450 Describe how lifelong learning helps nurses stay up-to-date on the latest medical advances and best practices

Answer 2 for NRS 450 Describe how lifelong learning helps nurses stay up-to-date on the latest medical advances and best practices

Lifelong learning, in the nursing profession, can be thought of continuous professional development. (Mlambo et al., 2021) For example, when I was in the military, we had to do online training modules (not too dissimilar to what we do as nurses), and part of those online training modules was referred to as Structured Self-Development. (ncosupport.com, 2023) So, I was not surprised to hear that we, as nurses, are expected to participate in a self-development process such as lifelong learning. Moreover, ever since health informatics was integrated within the nursing profession, it has has played a, “Vital role in improving the quality of patient care by maximizing communication, streamlining processes and facilitating evidence-based practice (EBP) across different healthcare departments.” (uic.edu, 2023) Adding, I personally view informatics as a catalyst for innovation. For example, where I worked previously, the nursing informatics team would routinely make rounds on the differing units and would offer assistance to anyone who was not familiar with how to navigate the Cerner Power Charting system. You see, many travel nurses would come to our facility and would struggle to familiarize themselves with how to operate our charting system. Finally, it’s hard to dispute the challenges some may face when trying to (for example) continue their education. According to an article published by the National Library of Medicine, “The main factors that appeared to affect nurses’ participation in continuing education programs were lack of support from supervisors (95.8%), program funding (94.8%), and family obligations (94.8%).” (Lera et al., 2020)

Citations:

Lera, M., Taxtsoglou, K., & lliadis, C. K. (2020). Nurses’ Attitudes Toward Lifelong Learning via New Technologies. Asian Pac Isl Nurs J, 5(2), 89–102. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7544016/

Mlambo, M., Silén, C., & McGrath, C. (2021). Lifelong learning and nurses’ continuing professional development, a metasynthesis of the literature. BMC Nursing. https://bmcnurs.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12912-021-00579-2

ncosupport.com. (2023). Army Structured Self Development SSD. NCO Support. https://ncosupport.com/military-news/ssd.html