The focus on different levels of thinking is an important feature to influence not only the nursing education but also the patient education within the clinical environments. In 1948, Benjamin Bloom began to develop the theoretical framework in a form of the taxonomy to classify the aspects of thinking. Today, Bloom’s taxonomy includes such domains of learning as cognitive, affective, and psychomotor ones which are actively addressed in education (Emerson, 2007, p. 30). The role of Bloom’s taxonomy in nursing and patient education is critical, and it is important to discuss this role while applying it to managing the patients with chronic diseases and with references to motivation theories.
Bloom determines three main domains of learning which are cognitive, affective, and psychomotor ones. The cognitive domain is associated with knowledge, analysis, and reasoning. The affective domain is explained with references to emotions and attitudes. In addition, the psychomotor domain is based on learning specific physical and manual skills (Emerson, 2007, p. 30-32). While applying Bloom’s taxonomy to the education of patients with chronic diseases, it is important to note that the effectiveness of treatment directly depends on management of patients affected by the use of the taxonomy.
Thus, while focusing on the cognitive domain, it is important to note that patients should be informed about the aspects of their chronic diseases and about specific features of treatment. Orienting to improving the health state, the patient should be provided with the information about the disease in order to comprehend the details, analyze aspects, and evaluate the progress (Ondrejka, 2013, p. 4). At this stage, the awareness of the situation is formed, and it is closely associated with the affective domain when the nurse’s task is to make a patient respond to the information and proposed treatment. The effectiveness of the treatment depends on the patient’s attitudes and values. That is why, nurses should pay much attention to this field while trying to affect the patient’s perception of the illness (Ondrejka, 2013, p. 4-5). If the focus on the psychomotor domain in the nursing education means the development of the nurse’s mechanical and physical skills and adaptation, patients acquire the necessary skills while learning how to cope with their diseases in the daily life.
Chronic diseases have the great effect on an individual and society because patients with chronic diseases need to change their way of life in order to respond to the problem. At this stage, a patient should be perfectly taught by nurses in relation to the aspects of treatment in order to receive positive results. Thus, the patient is provided with the information related to the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains in order to form necessary skills (Emerson, 2007, p. 32). Furthermore, people with chronic diseases are prevalent in the society, and much attention should be paid to their education as the part of preventive and treatment strategies.
While managing a patient with chronic diseases, it is necessary to refer to Bloom’s taxonomy as well as to motivation theories. The organism can be discussed as active and passive, and these considerations are used to classify motivation theories. To stimulate the recovery of patients with chronic diseases, it is possible to affect them with the help of stimuli, as it is related to the drive theory, and the focus is on the affective learning. It is also possible to influence the intrinsic motivation (Emerson, 2007, p. 51). In this case, the focus is on the cognitive sphere and the patient’s knowledge.
From this point, Bloom’s taxonomy can be actively used in managing the patients with chronic diseases because of involving three domains of learning. These domains are also important to be discussed in the context of motivation theories used to affect the patient’s state of health.
References
Emerson, R. (2007). Nursing education in the clinical setting. New York, NY: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Ondrejka, D. (2013). Affective teaching in nursing: Connecting to feelings, values, and inner awareness. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.