Monday, May 10, 2010

Learning as We Go

As I drove to a nearby hospital to teach a writing workshop, I began thinking about how the course's concept related to parenting. The workshop helps nurses complete a professional portfolio through several pieces of writing that demonstrate where their levels of practice reside. The concept behind the portfolio is based on the book, "From Novice to Expert: Excellence and Power in Clinical Nursing Practice," by Patricia Benner, RN, PhD. Benner first introduced the idea that nurses learn how to be nurses by -- are you ready? -- being nurses. It's not that she thinks nurses don't need formal education, but she believes that a nurses' experiences shape them as clinicians and guide future actions and decision-making. I'd argue that the same theory holds true for moms and dads.

Here goes...

Criteria: Demonstrates foresight in anticipating patient/unit (child!) problems
-The novice parent hears crying and finds her toddler engaged in battle with another toddler. "Mine!" they both shout as they tug on the same toy. The parent tries to distract her child with another toy while gingerly extracting her kid's fingers from the other kid's hair.
-The expert parent asks the child to put anything in the closet that he doesn't want to share during a playdate. And then the parent hides any toys that could be used as weapons and all the markers that are non-washable.

Criteria: Is proactive in addressing patient (child!) needs
-The novice parent arrives at an appointment without an extra diaper, snacks and toys only to find that the doctor is running an hour late.
-The expert parent needs weekly chiropractor appointments to correct the bulging discs resulting from regularly carrying diapers, water, goldfish, granola bars, board books, crayons, wind-up toys, dolls, etc.

Criteria: Serves in a formal or informal leadership role
-The novice parent exhibits a deer-in-the-headlight look upon returning home with his/her firstborn. The novice parent does know enough to call the expert parent, also known as Grandma, to come for a visit.

Criteria: Role models the value of ongoing learning
-Too overwhelmed with parenting duties, the novice parent is too tired to read and instead watches television to unwind.
-The expert parent escapes from the house through the convenient excuse of "It's book group night!"

Criteria: Encourages the participation of others in learning opportunities
-The novice parent can't imagine her babies leaving home.
-The expert parent counts the days until summer vacation ends.

Criteria: Capable of organizing and coordinating multiple patient care and unit operational issues in an effective and efficient manner
-The novice parent's home has dusty stacks of mail, spit-up rags under the couch, and an interesting green puddle on the bottom shelf of the fridge.
-The expert parent made lunch, got a child off to school, answered urgent emails via Blackberry, put chicken in the slow cooker for dinner, picked up the dry cleaning, went to the bank, coordinated the school's car wash, attended a work meeting, and finished three loads of laundry. And managed to squeeze in an episode of "Real Housewives of New Jersey."

So you see, we're better at this parenting thing then the first time we walked through our front doors with those wrinkly beings strapped into infant seats. And as the years go on and new challenges crop up, we'll continue to hone those skills even though we might feel like pulling our hair out at times. As Benner's title indicates... from novice to expert...excellence and power. Sure, in this case the kids actually have the power, but you gotta admit, the parenting thing is pretty excellent.

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