Meeting the Diverse Needs of Learners in the CNA Classroom

If you observed a nurse aide training classroom, you would likely see students from various cultural, racial, and ethnic backgrounds. While these unique qualities can tell you much about the student, they don’t provide information about their diverse learning needs. Healthcare education programs must consider the learners’ diverse backgrounds, learning styles, abilities, and challenges to ensure accessibility and equality. 

Considering all of these factors can feel overwhelming for nurse aide training programs. However, it’s critical to remember that the strength of a diverse healthcare workforce lies in its ability to provide culturally competent care. Healthcare training isn’t only for learning hands-on skills. It’s also where many students learn how to provide quality care that encompasses things like effective communication, observation, cultural competence, and empathy. 

Establishing a healthcare training environment for nurse aides that personalizes the learning experience and addresses the needs of learners with various learning styles is essential. By applying inclusive teaching strategies, creating a supportive educational atmosphere, and leveraging diverse resources, CNA instructors can successfully cater to their students' varying requirements and empower them to succeed. Let’s examine learning styles, other educational factors, and techniques you can employ to address your students' diverse learning needs.

Learning Styles 101

Nurse aide training programs have changed significantly in recent years. Many programs use resources like online learning platforms to facilitate courses. This advancement increases access to healthcare training programs but can also make identifying learning styles and needs more challenging. 

Nurse instructors must familiarize themselves with the various types of learning styles to address the diverse learning needs of their students. Once you understand the most common learning styles, you can assess your students and create a plan for differentiated instruction to enhance classroom success. Let’s review the most common types of learners:

• Auditory learners prefer listening to reading. They enjoy lectures, recordings, or videos they can listen to and gain knowledge. They may not take any notes but are known for asking questions or repeating information aloud to remember it better.
• Visual learners learn through images, charts, graphs, presentations, and other materials illustrating ideas. They also take notes or doodle to help them remember.
• Verbal learners understand information best when they can read or write words. They’re usually good at writing essays or articles. These learners need extra time to take notes and read course materials. 
• Kinesthetic learners can use various senses to absorb information. They enjoy learning by doing and must learn through experiences to grasp something new. 
• Analytical learners rely on logic to learn new information. They search for patterns and connections between concepts. These learners do well with facts, statistics, and lists.
• Intrapersonal learners, also called solo learners, prefer to study independently. They possess internal motivation and don’t require much from others to be successful. 
• Social learners enjoy learning in groups. They perform best during lessons and assignments that allow group participation or peer interaction, such as study groups, class quizzes, or peer discussions. 

  Other Learning Needs to Consider

While understanding different types of learning styles is important as a nurse instructor, it’s not the only type of learning that needs to be considered. You must know the signs of learning disabilities and other challenges impacting students' learning ability in traditional classroom settings.

A few other learning needs to consider include:

• Educational Background: Preparing new nurse aides can be challenging and rewarding. CNA students may enter programs with varying prior education and literacy levels. It is important to assess students to see if they need help with reading, writing, or basic math skills. 
• Language Barriers: Many CNA students are English language learners (ELLs), meaning they are not native English speakers. They may need language support, such as visual aids, translated materials, or bilingual instructors or tutors.
• Learning Disabilities: You might also encounter students with visual and hearing impairments and learning disabilities like ADHD that require individualized plans to ensure student success. 

Strategies for Meeting Diverse Learning Needs 

Now that you know some of the diverse learning needs you might encounter in a healthcare training classroom, let’s dive into strategies you can use to ensure every student succeeds. 

Offer Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated instruction might sound complicated. However, it just means you tailor your instruction to a student’s learning needs. For example, when teaching hand hygiene to an English language learner, you might show them pictures to teach the steps they must take to complete the skill. Or you might jump straight to a demonstration for visual and kinesthetic learners.

Vary Teaching Methods

Teaching and learning aren’t one-size-fits-all endeavors. Teachers must adapt their methods to meet the diverse learning needs of all students. You might consider using lectures, demonstrations, group activities, role-playing, and hands-on practice, among others. This approach addresses every student's needs and keeps the CNA classroom enjoyable, engaging, and interactive. 

Provide a Supportive Learning Environment

One of the most important things a nurse instructor can do in the classroom is create an environment where students feel comfortable asking questions and seeking help. Students need to learn how to collaborate, give and receive feedback, and ask questions, skills that will help them in the classroom and the workplace. You can foster a sense of community and collaboration in your classroom to help students well into the future. 

Individualize Support

Most healthcare training programs move quickly, so it can be challenging for students to get back on track once they fall behind. This problem can also be intensified if your program offers online learning because students are not in front of you daily in a classroom. Identifying students who are struggling and providing individualized support is critical to their success. Consider offering tutoring, mentoring, or online support sessions to provide individualized support throughout didactic, lab, and clinical experiences.

Use Varied Assessment Strategies

Quizzes, tests, and clinical skills check-offs are the most common assessment tools in CNA training programs. However, employing diverse assessment methods to evaluate student learning is crucial. Consider incorporating written tests, verbal quiz questions, and skill observations. Additionally, it is wise to review the accommodations the state testing provider allows and strive to offer similar accommodations in the classroom for consistency. 

Meeting Their Needs

Fostering a truly inclusive and effective nurse aide training program requires a deep understanding and proactive approach to the diverse learning needs of your students. By recognizing and addressing various learning styles, educational backgrounds, language barriers, and potential learning disabilities, you empower each student to reach their full potential. Remember, the goal is not just to impart skills but to cultivate the next generation of CNAs who provide compassionate, sensitive, and culturally competent care to strengthen the entire healthcare ecosystem. Embrace the challenge, utilize the strategies outlined, and create a learning environment where every student thrives.