The Educational Role of Senior Hospital Staff

Abstract

Education is a key and enjoyable component of a senior staff’s work, but for many in hospitals, competes with their clinical, research and administrative roles. The new challenge at the senior level, such as for doctors, nurses and allied health staff, are you take ultimate responsibility for patient care, so close clinical supervision and learner support is key. The supervisor needs to provide feedback and accurately assess, usually for multiple levels of learners and workers. In considering the educational program senior staff should establish, new research has focused in how we learn and become good. Learners move through multiple stages when developing competence but those displaying high levels of expertise are reflective, where they continue to actively review their performance with the aim of being even better. This is termed deliberate practice and is what we should aim to encourage in our learners, by providing them with clear outcomes, opportunities to practice and quality feedback. The learning cycle is a useful model to plan how a senior staff can facilitate learning in students, junior or specialist trainees and new staff. Phase 1 involves planning in terms of defining learning outcomes and teaching methods; Phase 2 involves facilitating learning, using a range of strategies and Phase 3 requires constructive and balanced feedback and assessment, which should allow learners to develop further. By using efficient strategies that integrate teaching and learning with clinical work, the educational role of senior staff should enhance clinical and other work and is more likely to ensure safe patient care and a highly effective workplace.

Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers.

—Josef Albers