Assessment of Martha’s learning needs

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Part A
Answer 1
 Assessment of Martha’s learning needs- Nurse will identify the learning needs of Martha
by identifying gaps in knowledge and skill between desired knowledge level and actual
knowledge level (Polat, Celik, Erkan, & Kasali, 2014). That means nurse will identify
what Martha already knows and what she needs to know.
Nurse needs to follow certain steps to assess the learning needs.
Nurse must identify the learner which in this case is Martha. Then nurse will select a
suitable setting which must be based on a trusting environment so that Martha can feel a
sense of security in providing private information to nurse. It would also make her
believe that she is valued, important and respected. Then nurse will gather information
about Martha in order to ascertain the characteristic needs by exploring typical health
issues of interest to Martha which is smoking cessation. Nurse will gather information
from Martha as she is the most significant source of needs assessment data about herself.
Nurse must allow Martha to identify what is important to her, what she perceive their
needs to be, which kinds of social support systems are available for her and what type of
assistance these supports can offer to her. Nurse must engage Martha actively in defining
her issues and requirements so that she gets motivated to learn. It will help in investing
her in planning for an educational program particularly individualized to her unique
scenario.
Nurse must involve other health professionals in the planning as they may have an insight
into Martha’s needs because of their persistent contact with her. Nurse must partner with

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other members of the healthcare team for a broader assessment of Martha’s learning
needs (Altman, et al., 2016).
Then the nurse will prioritize Martha’s needs to make the identified needs possible to
accomplish. Nurse must ensure that Martha’s basic needs are catered to first and foremost
prior to other needs.
Then nurse will ascertain the availability of educational resources. Nurse may identify a
need for Martha but it may be useless to proceed with interventions in case appropriate
educational resources are not available. They may even be unrealistic to obtain.
After that nurse will evaluate the demands of the healthcare setting in order to get
information that reflects the organization’s culture in terms of its principles, mission,
vision, and goals. Lastly, nurse will account for time-management issues if any as
constraints based on time are chief barrier in the evaluation process.
 Assessment of Martha’s readiness to learn- Martha’s readiness to cease smoking must be
assessed and what stage of change she is in must be identified. Readiness to learn is
indicated in terms of time when Martha will show an interest in learning the information
essential to cease smoking. For this, Martha must be receptive, willing, and able to
engage in the learning process. Nurse has the responsibility of discovering exactly when
Martha is ready to learn, what she needs to learn. At this point, nurse must understand her
true motivation in order to target correct strategies. Stage of change will also offer an
outline of Martha’s issues and her readiness to quit. Like Martha is on contemplation
stage as she is considering to quit so her education plan must be based on building
confidence, setting a date for quitting, etc. (Cherry, 2019).