If the nurses failed, then maybe the teachers are a failure

Apr 01, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
I read with great interest in the Kaieteur News, March 16, 2017 where the shocking news was reported that only 23 of 179 nurses passed all segments of the State Final Nurses Examination. The results of the examination rocked the foundation of the training programme for nurses. This news hit me like a bolt from the blue. I believe that those who read the article are equally perturbed. Since then there have been numerous comments in the print and electronic media and elsewhere about this debacle. Diverse views have been posited for this sad state of affairs in the training and development of our nurses. The debate continues unabated.
Please permit me to join in the discussion through this medium. I have very little idea about the contents, methodology and other aspects of the training of nurses. However, I benefitted from training under the late world renowned adult educator Mr .Samuel Augustus Small, MS. He was bestowed with a national award for his contribution to adult education in Guyana. He received a Caribbean award for promoting adult education in the region and was an executive member of the world body that deals with adult education.
He served as a resource person in training for the Guyana Police Force for over fifty years and was a member of the GPF Training Board. He was my mentor as it relates to training. My interactions with him as a mentee were invaluable. Let me share some of his thoughts with you about training which may have some parallels with the training of the nurses and adult education in general.
When the results of our examination were not up to the required standard, Mr. Small, as we would call him, would say; “back to basics.” He would ask a number of searching questions and put forward some pertinent issues and concerns. Here are a few. How large was the class? How long was the course? Were the physical and other classroom environments conducive for good learning? Did the facilitators understand and appreciate the nature and principles of learning? Did the instructors promote and maintain the desire to learn? Was the training designed for rote learning and not for the participants to internalise and conceptualise? Did the presenters understand and appreciate the vast difference between pedagogy and andragogy?
Were the three general categories of learning styles – visual, auditory and kinesthetic taken into consideration during the training? Was the focus on knowledge, skills and or attitudes? What were the methods of instructions? Apart from lectures were there questions and answers sessions; discussion; audio and video presentations; demonstration; hands-on-learning; role playing; case studies; simulations; field training; remedial training; combination of some of the above.
Was there an eclectic approach towards training? Did the instructional materials include – printed information; visuals; bulletin boards; audio and videocassettes; and or computer programmes? Did the trainers succumb to training pitfalls – ignoring individual differences, expecting everyone to learn at the same time; lecturing without showing; being impatient; not setting expectation or setting them too high; giving too much at a time; assuming that because something was assigned or presented, it was learned; creating stress, often through competition; embarrassing participants in front of others; relying too heavily on ‘war stories.’
Writing on the training implications for law enforcement officers, Karen Hess and Christine Orthman (2012) explain, “ Given the variables affecting learning, the bottom line is this: There is no one best way to instruct. The most effective instruction is adapted to the individual officers: the specific knowledge, skill or attitude being taught; and the setting in which the training occurs” (end of quote). This is applicable to law enforcement officers and may be relevant to the training of nurses and others. The words of my late mentor keep ringing in my ears,” If the trainees did not learn, the instructors did not teach.”
Clinton Conway
Assistant Commissioner of Police
Retired

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