NRNP 6675 Week 3 Assignment 2 Study Plan

Study Plan Example

My first study goal this term is to understand key concepts in psychotherapy by learning more about possible side-effects of antipsychotics and the effects of chronic drug administration. I will achieve this by reviewing the two topics at least three times per week and dedicate at least one distraction-free thirty minutes daily to handling five questions related to the topic for the entire month.

Implementing fundamental life goals and learning goals augments learners’ self-governing motivation to learn and enjoy learning (Froiland, 2021). My second goal encompasses attaining a thorough and profound understanding of the various types of psychotherapy and learning how to practice these different approaches on patients. I intend to study the five approaches to psychotherapy within five weeks, rereading one method weekly.

My third goal is to improve how I tackle and answer test questions. I particularly want to learn how to break the question into smaller parts. This will boost my understanding of the questions in smaller parts rather than a whole question. I will use psychopharmacology review questions from flashcards and online sites such as Quizlet, rich in questions and content instrumental in my practice.

According to Sharmin and Chow (2020), scholars who use technology and mobile devices daily frequently lack the time and motivation to make and use flashcards efficiently. I intend to minimize using my phone to google answers and instead use flashcards. I will review at least one question and practice how to answer it daily until the certification exam.

To attain the three goals, I will create a detailed plan of action, eliminate bad habits such as poor time management, and instill self-discipline. I will ensure that I follow my timetable and utilize the assigned time effectively to accomplish each set goal. I also intend to join a study group to promote creativity and build sturdier communication skills. According to Gouvea (2019), sharing notions and concepts in a group can be risky, creating feelings of embarrassment or conflict.

As a shy person, I intend to improve my communication skills and boost my confidence by joining the study group. This will also enhance my understanding of the key concepts in psychotherapy types of psychotherapy and improve how I tackle test questions. Having set SMARTER (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) goals, focusing on areas that require growth, I will excel in the certification exam.

References

Froiland, J. M. (2021). The intrinsic learning goals of elementary school students, in their own words. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 61(4), 629-649. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0022167818763923

Gouvea J. S. (2019). Learning in a Group, as a Group, and between Groups. CBE Life Sciences Education, 18(2), fe4. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.19-03-0067

Sharmin, N., & Chow, A. K. (2020). Augmented Reality Application to Develop a Learning Tool for Students: Transforming Cellphones into Flashcards. Healthcare Informatics Research, 26(3), 238–242. https://doi.org/10.4258/hir.2020.26.3.238

The Assignment

Revise your study plan summarizing your current strengths and opportunities for improvement.

Develop 3-4 new SMART goals for this quarter and the tasks you need to complete to accomplish each goal. Include a timetable for accomplishing them and a description of how you will measure your progress.

Describe resources you would use to accomplish your goals and tasks, such as ways to participate in a study group or review course, mnemonics and other mental strategies, and print or online resources you could use to study.

Can you imagine an athlete deciding to run a marathon without training for the event? Most ambitious people who have set this goal will follow a specific training plan that will allow them to feel confident and prepared on the big day. Similarly, if you want to feel confident and prepared for your certification exam, you should create and follow a plan that will thoroughly prepare you for success.

In this Assignment, you will review the study plan that you developed in NRNP 6665, and revise your plan as necessary, which will serve as the road map for you to follow to attain your certification.

To Prepare

Reflect on the study plan you created in NRNP 6665. Did you accomplish your SMART goals? What areas of focus still present opportunities for growth?

Personal Reflection and Study Plan Sample

Nursing education is meant to prepare healthcare professionals for excellent clinical practice. Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (PMHNPs) are among the health care professionals that must go through education to acquire the advanced necessary skills required to handle patients with mental health issues. Such advanced nursing education ensures that PMHNPs have future professional effectiveness.

At the end of this master’s degree level education program, PMHNPs must learn how to diagnose and treat psychiatric conditions. Tests are one of the ways to ensure that PMHNPs possess these competencies. Tests assess both practical and cognitive skills which are acquired through education.

Tests are offered by the American Nurses Credentialing Centre (ANCC). Continuous learning is one of the ways one can ensure they pass the certification exam. Continuous learning ensures that one is constantly improving on their weaknesses. It also gives one the chance to evaluate their weaknesses and find ways to improve on them.

A personal development plan can ensure one improves on their knowledge deficiencies. It can do this by ensuring that one gets out of their comfort zone. The purpose of this reflection paper is to look at some of my strengths and weaknesses as I prepare for the certification exam and also to provide a development plan which includes a study plan and some of the goals I intend to achieve before the certification exam.

Strengths and weaknesses.

The test revealed that there are areas that I need to work on and areas which I have mastered. One of my strengths is my ability to comprehensively take a psychiatric history and evaluate patients. This has been made possible by my understanding of the various psychopathologic processes of different psychiatric conditions.

This allows me to ask the right questions that might lead me towards an accurate diagnosis and to create a proper plan of management. I did fairly well in questions relating to psychotherapy because of the vast amount of knowledge I acquired from the psychotherapy class. I also did a number of practice questions on psychotherapy.

However, my weaknesses include psychopharmacology which entails having to memorize how psychoactive drugs exert their effects on behavior by altering neuronal communication in the brain, the use of specific classes of medications in treating mental disorders, as well as therapeutic use of psychotropic medication.

Going into the test I had some fears that I was weak in psychopharmacology and the test proved me right. This is mostly due to the fact that psychopharmacology has a lot of content and my opinion is that most of the content requires cramming in addition to basic understanding of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. I have difficulties with cramming. It is this weakness that will help me come up with my SMART goals.

SMART goals.

Goal 1: Increase my Knowledge base in psychopharmacology

Task: to ensure that I increase my knowledge in psychopharmacology, I will study for at least two hours daily, six days of the week until I sit for my certification exam. This will ensure that my learning is always continuous. I can use a psychopharmacology review book to help me accomplish this goal. I will make notes to enhance my understanding when reading.

I will also join a study group that will help me go over the various concepts in psychopharmacology. Study groups are useful for information sharing (Rahman et al., 2019). A study group might help me to simplify some of the concepts and to consolidate information into memory much easily.

Goal 2: Familiarize myself with test questions.

Task: to help my self to be more familiar to exam questions related to psychopharmacology, I will use a series of practice exam questions. This will help me to identify my weaknesses in psychopharmacology and to help me improve on them. The practice exams will also help me to keep track of how prepared I am for the final certification exam.

I will ensure that I do at least 20 questions on a daily basis from Monday to Friday. I will also subscribe to various psychopharmacology review websites to ensure that I do not run out of questions to practice with Testing is superior to re-studying concepts when trying to promote long-term retention of information (Yang et al., 2019).

Goal 3: improve my memory of psychopharmacotherapy concepts.

Task: to ensure this, I will make a list of psychiatric conditions and the most commonly prescribed major classes of psychotropic medications. I will also use flashcards that summarize the most important information in psychopharmacology. Flashcards optimize the learning of factual knowledge and improves memory performance (Sharmin & Chow, 2020).

I will make sure that I go through these flashcards every day before I go to sleep. I will also do practice questions on the various psychopharmacology concepts to help me ensure that I consolidate information into my long-term memory.

Resources and study plan.

To ensure that I accomplish the highlighted goals, several resources will be needed. Some of these resources include psychopharmacology review textbooks, online study resources, psychopharmacology review questions, flashcards, stationery including pens, notebooks, coloured markers, and well written lecture notes.

Learning aids like Quizlet can also be a useful resource. Group-based discussions help with interactive learning (Gouvea, 2019). All senses should be involved when learning to help with better retention of information. Additionally, I need to work on my test taking strategies. I the order to be smart about my pacing I will better distribute my test practice time, since it has been repeatedly proven to be more effective than cramming, so I won’t run out of time on my certification exam.

DAY 1

DAY 2

DAY 3

DAY 4

DAY 5

DAY 6

Study : 3 hrs.

Spaced repetition: 1 hr.

Study: 2 hrs.

Study Group: 1hr

Practice Questions: 1 hr.

Study: 2 hrs.

Study Group: 1hr

Practice Questions: 1

Study: 2 hrs.

Study Group: 1hr

Practice Questions: 1

Study: 2 hrs.

Study Group: 1hr

Practice Questions: 1

Study: 2 hrs.

Study Group: 1hr

Practice Questions: 1 hr.

TOTAL : 4 HRS

References

Gouvea J. S. (2019). Learning in a Group, as a Group, and between Groups. CBE life sciences education, 18(2), fe4. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.19-03-0067

Rahman, K., Wahid, A., Afandi, I., Bali, M. M. E. I., & Hakim, L. (2019). Effectiveness of Teams Teaching-Hybrid Learning (TTHL) in Higher Education. In WESTECH 2018: Proceedings of 1st Workshop on Environmental Science, Society, and Technology, WESTECH 2018, December 8th, 2018, Medan, Indonesia (p. 263). European Alliance for Innovation. http://dx.doi.org/10.4108/eai.8-12-2018.2284036

Sharmin, N., & Chow, A. K. (2020). Augmented Reality Application to Develop a Learning Tool for Students: Transforming Cellphones into Flashcards. Healthcare informatics research, 26(3), 238–242. https://doi.org/10.4258/hir.2020.26.3.238

Yang, B. W., Razo, J., & Persky, A. M. (2019). Using Testing as a Learning Tool. American journal of pharmaceutical education, 83(9), 7324. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe7324

NRNP 6675 Week 3 Assignment 2 Study Plan